


Once Upon A Genderbend: Sleeping Beauty

by BroadwayCutie16



Series: Once Upon A Genderbend [1]
Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Canon Divergence - Episode: s03e13 Monster Bash, Fem!Marco Diaz, Male!Star Butterfly, Sleeping Beauty Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-14
Packaged: 2020-10-11 13:50:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 46,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20547203
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BroadwayCutie16/pseuds/BroadwayCutie16
Summary: On one of their adventures, Storm and Marcia uncover the truth-that Marcia is not a normal Earth girl, as she and so many others have thought, but the long-lost Princess Luna of the Moon Kingdom!Before she can process such, Marcia is swept away from her life as Storm's squire and right hand woman to take her rightful place on the throne.  She struggles with her new life and the expectations that is put on her, as the ladies of the court try to turn her into their vision of a perfect princess in time for her sixteenth birthday.But as the day looms nearer, a dark shadow from the past threatens to destroy the plans for Marcia's special day-and Marcia along with it.





	1. Prologue

The streets were quiet that calm autumn night in the year 2000. The pavements were empty, illuminated by only a single streetlight every mile or so, and nothing could be heard by the sound of the wind rattling against the glass windowpanes. What else could be expected from a sleepy place like Echo Creek, a small town that wasn't even shown on half the maps of the state of California? There was a reason it was called Echo Creek—because it was so empty, you could shout on the streets, and all you'd get in response was a echo.

Suddenly, a slicing sound rang through the crisp autumn air, and, out of thin air, a portal, a gateway to another place so unlike Echo Creek, swirling with bright, vibrant colors of forest green and electric blue, appeared in the backyard of one of the houses on the block. It disrupted the peaceful atmosphere of the neighborhood, yet it was so small compared to the big picture that it went completely unnoticed, like a single snowflake in the middle of summer.

Out of the portals stepped two people, both covered in long, dark-colored wool cloaks with large hoods that covered nearly their entire heads. One of them was tall, lean, and held a pair of strange-looking scissors in their hand. The blades caught the moonlight and gleamed in the dark of the night. They turned around every which way, searching for someone who might see them trespassing, knowing full well how to handle the situation should that problem arise.

The other figure was a bit smaller, yet more graceful as she moved towards the step of the backdoor of a certain house. "Is this the place?" The voice was that of a woman's, gentle and elegant, even if it was a little high-pitched.

The other figure nodded. "This is it." His voice was much deeper, and a tad younger.

The smaller, more womanly figure looked at the large basket she carried in her arms, and the precious treasure it held.

"And you're sure this is the best way?" Her voice trembled, like she was on the verge of all out sobbing. 

The taller, more masculine figure placed a hand on her shoulder. "It is. No one will think to look for her here." He gestured towards the house before them. "I've had Omny check out the people who live here. Really nice couple, kind and loving, make good money, and they're dying to have a child. But so far, they haven't conceived." His voice was gentle as he spoke to his traveling companion. "They'll be good to her."

Nodding in understanding, the woman walked up to the house and placed the basket on the doorstep. Reaching her hand up, she rapped her fist the wooden door as hard as she could while stifling her cries.  
\----------------  
Angie Diaz stared, heartbroken, at the tiny white stick lying atop the bathroom counter. Two minutes has passed, and on the blank patch, there was only one line—not pregnant. She sighed heavily. She shouldn't be too upset, that she knew. It was not her first disappointment. She and her husband, Rafeal, had been trying to have a baby for a little over a year now. They had been through many hysterical pregnancies, and a few false positives, but they hadn't managed to conceive once.

The constant cycle of getting her hopes up, only to have them come crashing down in seconds, was starting to wear Angie down. She was starting to worry that there was something wrong with one or, heaven forbid, both of them. What if they were infertile? What if she and Rafeal never had a child of their own? The thought terrified Angie.

An abrupt knock on the bathroom door jerked her from her thoughts and fears. "Mi amour?", Rafeal's voice coaxed from the other side.

"Are you alright? What does it say?" Angie winced. This was her least favorite part. Having to look her beloved husband right in the eye and tell him that they had failed once again, that they was no little bundle of joy on the way to bless their lives.

Rafeal waited patiently for his wife to open up, clinging onto the small hope that this time had been a success. Instead, those hopes were shattered the moment the door opened to reveal Angie wearing a defeated expression. She didn't need to tell him the results, he knew from the look on her face. But she said them out loud anyway. "Its negative."

Seeing his wife on the verge of tears, Rafeal concealed his own disappointment and said gently, "You get comfy on the sofa. I will make you some enchiladas."

Angie nodded weakly, leaning on her husband as they made their way downstairs. Reaching the bottom, she took one last look at the negative test in her hands before flinging it into the garbage.

Rafeal had barely started preparations for the enchiladas in the kitchen when there was a hard knock at the back door of the house. Taking off his oven mitts, he went to answer it. However, when he opened the door, there was no one standing in front of it. Looking back and forth, Rafeal remained confused until a little wail rang out.

He glanced down to see a basket left on the doorstep. Inside, tucked under a soft pale blue blanket, was a tiny infant in an ivory dress and bonnet, both trimmed with lace. A tuft of dark brown hair identical to Rafeal's stuck out from under the top of the bonnet, and a tiny mole rested just below the baby's right eye. But there was no note positioned over the baby, or tucked under the blanket with them, or even taped on the basket.

"Honey? What's going on out there?"

Angie arrived at the back door, heard the wail, and glanced down to see the crying babe someone had left for them to find. "Oh!", she cried. Bending at the knees, she gently untucked the infant child from underneath the blanket. "And where did you come from, sweetie?", she asked, scooping up the baby and cradling them in her arms.

At once, the child stopped crying and gazed up at Angie with big brown eyes.

Rafeal picked up the basket and shook it, searching if the note had been left under the baby. But he still found nothing. "There is no note.", he told his wife.

Angie looked at him, then back at the child, still whimpering with their lower lip trembling, ready to burst into tears once more if necessary. "Honey...what if this was the reason we haven't gotten pregnant yet?"

Rafeal looked confused. "Huh?"

"I mean, what if whoever's upstairs was saving us for this little angel?", Angie asked, rocking the child back and forth.

Rafeal caught on to what she was implying. "Oh, my love...this baby is not some penny that we found on the sidewalk. We cannot keep him—I mean, her—you know what I mean!" "What if no one comes to claim the baby?", Angie asked, bouncing the baby up and down to soothe it.

Rafeal was silent for a moment. Finally, he spoke. "We will report this, put the word out, and wait to see if someone claims the baby. Until then, it can live with us.”

"And if no one claims it?", Angie asked, hope shining in her big green eyes.

Rafeal smiled, just a little. "We will look into adoption."

Angie squeaked with delight and held the baby a little bit tighter.

The baby fussed in her arms, regaining her attention. "Oh, are you hungry? Don't worry, we'll take care of you."

Angie pressed the child against her shoulder, bouncing the little one. "Rafeal, you go out and buy some food. I'll change this precious darling." They both went inside with the baby, closing the door behind them.

Once they were gone, the two hooded figure emerged from their hiding places in the bushes. The man gently placed his hand on the shoulder of the woman to comfort her. "Its all going to turn out okay.", he said softly, pulling out his scissors. "I promise."

He sliced open another portal to who knows where, and he and his companion stepped through it and were gone.  
\-----------------  
Angie finished changing the baby, which she had found was indeed a little girl. "Rafeal, what do you think we should call her?"

Rafeal stopped in the middle of putting on his coat. "Angie, no! We cannot name her! We will get attached!"

"Its just until someone claims her!", she said, scooping up the baby. "It just feels right."

Rafeal sighed, pausing to think. "I always liked the name...Marcia."


	2. Marcia Diaz

Fifteen Years Later

"Marcia!"

Coming up to the top of the hill was a young woman of only fifteen years, her long dark brown ponytail flying behind her in the strong Mewni winds, her light brown eyes all lit up as she focused on the finish line in her mind's eye. The strings of her thick red hoodie were flapping about in no orderly pattern, and her muscular legs, strong from years of karate lessons, carried her faster and faster in her brown sneakers, her dark gray skirt fluttering in the force.

She laughed, the adrenaline building up generating joy. It was even more fun when Storm was involved. Keeping ahead of her was the one and only Storm Dragonfly, Crown Prince and actual heir to the throne of Mewni, and Marcia's best friend in the entire universe. He was acting cocky about being ahead of Marcia in their race, and it showed on his face.

"Nah, nah! Ya can't catch me!"

Smirking, Marcia decided that it was time to kick it into high gear. Using every ounce of strength and skill she could muster, she sped up and bolted right past an unsuspecting Storm, leaving him far behind as she dove towards the big purple wooded tree and touched it with both hands.

Jumping up and down, she squealed with ecstasy and triumph. "I win! I win! I win!"

Storm came up to her, bending down, resting his hands on his knees as he caught his breath. Despite the fact that he had lost yet another race to her, he was grinning from ear to ear. "I should've known I couldn't beat you.", he gasped out betweens pants. "You always cream me at this stuff. All that sports training you had back on Earth gave you an edge."

Marcia rolled her eyes. "Well, not all of us were promised a magic wand when we were born."

Storm held up the item she referred to—the Royal Magic Wand, the most precious Dragonfly heirloom, passed down to every Dragonfly Prince upon their fourteenth birthday. It was the most powerful artifact in the universe, hence, it was Storm's duty to use it for good, and keep it out of the hands of evil.

Storm chuckled as he twirled the wand in his hand. "Yeah, that's what I thought, too. But this doesn't help me run faster than you, or beat you at hand-to-hand combat, or lift more weight than you. That's what I get for never taking up my mom's offer of strategic knight training." He smiled fondly at Marcia. "Speaking of which, you're gonna make a great knight someday, Marcy."

Marcia beamed at those words. Being a knight on Mewni had been her goal ever since she had returned after the defeat of Toffee to take up permanent residence at Dragonfly Castle. That was why, when no other knight was in need of a squire, Storm had made her his. While other girls living at the castle were shopping for new dresses and going to garden parties, she was at the training grounds, practicing her sword fighting and polishing her attack maneuvers, turning a deaf ear to the taunts of the other squires, who made fun of her, saying she only got her job out of pity.

But Marcia would not be intimidated by their mockery. She was determined to prove them wrong and become a great knight, despite all the odds against her. Besides, at least Storm believed in her. With him by her side, she knew that she could do anything. She would gladly do the same for him at any opportunity presented.

"You up for another race?"

Before he could answer, his mirror phone dinged loudly. Holding up a single finger to wait a moment, he pulled it from his pocket and flipped it open to check the screen. Glancing at it, his face expressed some surprise. "Oh! We have to get back to the castle! I'm gonna be late for my date with Tammy."

Marcia's heart and spirits dropped almost instantly. "Oh, right...Tammy."

Marcia knew that she had no right to be jealous of Tammy for being Storm's girlfriend. After all, Marcia had had plenty of chances to be more than his friend, back when he had lived with her and her parents back on Earth, before he had had to return to Mewni to begin his real training to be the next Dragonfly King. But she had been oblivious to his feelings of romance towards her, focusing instead on her longtime crush, Jackson Lee Thomas, and had unknowingly allowed all of her chances with Storm to slip away. By the time she realized the truth, it was already too late. He had moved on.

Marcia dare not say a word to Storm. After all, he was her best friend, and she wanted him to be happy above all else, even if it hurt seeing him with somebody else. Besides, Tammy was a princess, the heir to the Underworld Lucitor Kingdom, while Marcia was just a normal girl from Earth, the equivalent of a peasant. Tammy could give him more than Marcia could ever offer him.

"C'mon! Let's get going!"

Storm grabbed Marcia by the hand, and she blushed softly as she felt the sensation of a hundred suns under her skin where he touched her. Whenever he held her hand like that, she always felt safe and and secure, like nothing in the world could hurt her as long as he was there to protect her. Just like whenever he hugged her, or laid his head on her shoulder during their movie nights.

He dragged her through the fields, up the path back to the castle. As they ran, they came to a fork in the road, both leading into dark thickets. Storm looked at the two options and frowned. "Which way did we come from again?", he thought aloud, scratching his head. Marcia looked back and forth between the two different paths, struggling to recall which one they had come from, when she heard Storm gasp.

Her head swerved, and she saw Storm, his mouth hanging open, his big blue eyes grown to the size of golden sun coins. "What?! What is it?!", she cried, growing panicked. "What's wrong?" He raised his hands to the lightning bolts on his cheeks. She reflectively mirrored his actions, and to her surprise, they were warm to the touch, almost hot.

Her eyes fell to a puddle at her feet, where she saw her reflection and gasped. A pair of golden crescent moons, with the points facing each other, had appeared on her cheeks and were glowing brightly, like Storm's cheekmarks did whenever he was performing magic or feeling a strong positive emotion.

Marcia and Storm had only seen these marks on her cheeks once before. Storm had been trapped in the Realm of Magic, and Marcia had had no way of reaching him—except one. Risking the worst, she had taken Storm's wand, expecting something gruesome to become of her, but instead, the wand transformed, and she was granted use of it. She contacted him in the Realm via the All-Seeing Eye Spell, where the moons had first appeared on her face.

She hadn't been able to pull him back through the swirling dark portal, but seeing her had been enough to snap Storm out of his hypnotic state and fly back home to her. After that, they already had so much on their plates, what with the peace treaty between monsters and mewmans being sealed, and the bash that was spoiled by Mr. Heinous/Meteorite, they never gave the moon emblems another thought.

But why were the moons reappearing now? Storm and Marcia were not in any sort of danger, and she was not even holding his magic wand. Her bright brown eyes wandered towards the path on the left. Experimenting, she took a single step down that road, and the moons glowed a little brighter. Whatever was happening, the source seemed to be down that path.

Now, before Storm had come along, Marcia was not one to take risks. She was so safety-conscious, that back at school she had been labelled "the Safe Kid". Even after Storm had come into her life and showed her to take chances every now and then, Marcia often still made sure to have a solid plan before doing anything too risky.

But now was one if those times where she knew she had to take a risk. She had to know why the moons had reappeared, and what was down this unknown path that was causing such a thing. Taking a deep, steady breath for strength, she murmured to Storm, "Let's go." And with that, he followed her down the mysterious path.

Neither one of them knew it yet, but this was the path towards Marcia's destiny.


	3. Princess?!

Storm and Marcia walked down the path, through the thicket, through the dim forest, to explore this unfamiliar place. As they came further and further up the path, Marcia's moon-shaped cheekmarks glowed brighter and brighter, lighting their way in the darkness. They were unsure of where they were headed, but they knew they needed to keep going.

After what seemed like an eternity, their ears picked up on the faint sounds of old-timey festival music, the kind you would hear over the speakers while at a renaissance faire. As they followed the noise, it was soon accompanied by clapping and chanting from other people. They hurried closer and closer until the happy sounds filled the air around them. Pushing aside some tree branches that were blocking their way, they peered out and gaped at what they saw.

Laying before where they stood was a whole new kingdom, made up of vast fields of golden yellow wheat and villages that looked as if they came straight from the pages of a storybook. The houses were painted with every color of the rainbow, and looked as cozy as could be. On the areas of land where there weren't wheat or villages, there were instead endless fields of flowers, every kind that grew on Mewni, and even some that Storm and Marcia had never seen before.

Far off in the distance, at the very end of the kingdom, was an ivory palace that gleamed like the moon, with towers that scraped the clouds above. The light from the sun bounced off it's white walls and made it glitter as if a thousand stars existed on it's very surface. The construction was a masterpiece, who's size and architecture made Dragonfly Castle look like a doll's cottage.

Storm and Marcia stood at the beginning of the path to the kingdom, drinking in it's majesty and splendor. Never before had they seen a land so magnificent, not even Storm, who had grown up the Crown Prince and heir to the Dragonfly throne, one of the most prestigious and exalted crowns of his dimension. They were overcome with awe and curiosity, and slowly started walking further down the path towards the first village.

As they walked, the glow on Marcia's moons began to pulse, on and off, on and off, like an alarm light going off. She and Storm hardly noticed, seeing as they were too taken with the beauty that surrounded them. The sounds of music and cheering drew closer as they came to the entrance of the first village on the road towards the glowing moon palace, and they caught sight of villagers, dancing and laughing happily in the town square.

Marcia just stood there, rubbing her arm up and down, unsure of what to do now. Storm stood by her side, seemingly as uncertain of what to do next as well. It was very crowded in the village, people moving this way and that, too caught up in their little celebration to make way for any passersby. All of the sudden, a little boy, not watching where he was going, collided with Marcia's legs.

She immediately knelt down to offer him aid. "Are you alright?" 

"I-I think so."

"Julian!" A middle-aged woman, most possibly the boy's mother, came running up to them, her stern gaze focused on the little one. "I'm terribly sorry! He can be such a handful at times! I honestly don't know what I'm going to do with—“

At that moment, she glanced up, and instantly fell silent, her eyes growing wide as she stared at Marcia. The mother had the same look that Marcia herself had when she saw the glowing moons appear on her face.

Raising her hands to her cheeks reflexively, Marcia gently rubbed her fingertips over the pulsing golden moon-shaped marks. "I know, its weird! I'm trying to figure out what's going—" 

She was cut off by the woman yelling to her fellow townsfolk, who all stopped what they were doing at the sound and volume of her voice, as she pointed right at the younger girl. "Look! Its her! Its her!"

A hundred pairs of eyes went wide as a symphony of gasps rose up.

"Its her!"

"Bless my soul!"

"Praise the goddesses!"

Marcia was paralyzed, unsure of what was happening. Was their surprise a good or a bad thing? Storm stood by her side, his feet spread apart and his eyes determined, ready to defend his best friend from any attacks if need be.

Suddenly, Marcia was whisked off her feet by a tall, lanky middle-aged man, whose lean face was split in half with a wide, toothy grin. "Praise the heavens! She has returned to us after all these years!" Before Marcia could process the situation, she found herself being carried on the shoulders of the townsfolk, who were cheering and chanting as they headed towards the gleaming palace, Storm in hot pursuit as he tried in vain to reach her to take her back to the ground.  
\----------------  
After what must have been ten miles, the townsfolk finally dropped Marcia off at the gates of the palace, which was even more beautiful up close. 

Storm came up beside her, panting heavily in a desperate attempt to try and catch his breath after he had spent the last ten miles jumping up and stretching his arms for her. "What is this all about?", he heaved out between gasps of air.

Marcia shook her head. "I only wish I knew."

Just then, a tall knight with a thin mustache over his lip approached the two, smiling when he looked at the marks on Marcia's cheeks, which were were now blinking on and off rapidly and shining bright enough to blind one. However the moment that they took that first step through the palace doorway, the light immediately dimmed, leaving behind just some pale yellow moon shapes.

Marcia's hands reflectively rose to touch her marks one more time, while Storm watched, mesmerized. Both of them wondered why the blinking and the glowing had finally stopped. They looked around at the palace. Was this where the glow had been leading them? Were they supposed to be here? But why? And what did it have to do with Marcia?

A million questions each swirled around in their heads, but were put on hold when the knight took Marcia gently by the arm, smiling at her. "Allow me to escort you to the throne room, m'lady. I know two people who have been expecting you for quite some time now."  
\------------------  
The double doors opened just a crack, and Marcia peered inside. All the way at the end of the room, resting atop a podium, were a pair of golden thrones that gleamed in the light shining through the tall church-style windows. Sitting upon them were a couple, no older than her or Storm's parents, staring out straight ahead.

The man, she noted, looked very similar to herself. He had the same cocoa-colored skin, the same dark chocolate hue of his hair, and the same brown eyes that were a mixture of amber and hazel. He even had a small beauty mark, very much like Marcia's, on the right side of his pointed nose. His curved chin and the sides of his face were covered in stubble, and his thin lips were pursed in a serious expression. He wore a dark blue tunic trimmed with linings of gold, over a crisp long-sleeved white shirt with a stiff high collar and stiff cuffs that stuck out. His pants were black as night, and atop his head, a crown of gold with square shaped points, set with rubies the size of walnuts, rested in his hair.

The woman, on the other hand, was very different in contrast to the man. Whilst he was tan-skinned and dark-haired, her skin and hair were both very pale. Her long hair, so light blond it was almost white, fell in soft, rippling waves all the way past her waist. Her eyes were the very lightest shade of seagreen, enough to make one worry that she was blind, and her full lips were as pink as peonies in the springtime. She wore an elegant high-waisted dressed that was the color of a clear summer sky, with a darker blue ribbon tied into a loose bow just below her breasts, the long ends dangling off around her stomach, and a tiara of gold and diamonds atop her head. But the thing Marcia noticed right away about the woman was the light blue emblems on her pale cheeks, in the shape of fleur-de-lis.

Before Marcia could take in the whole thing, the knight stepped out, catching the couple's attention.

"Your Royal Majesties,", he said, pride and happiness evident in his tone of voice. "Today is a day for celebration. A day of joy and triumph! For today...today is the day that our future queen, our chosen daughter, has returned to her kingdom, to take her rightful place in the line of succession!"

Marcia and Storm shared a look. Who was he talking about? All of the sudden, the knight pulled Marcia through the doorway and presented her proudly to the royal couple, whose jaws fell open, them rising to their feet. The woman held her delicate hands over her mouth as tears ran down her cheeks. The knight spoke once more. "I give you...the Princess Luna."

Marcia whipped her head at the knight to gape at him, eyes wide and mouth formed into an O shape. "Princess?!“

Had she heard that right? Had the knight called her a princess? There was no way. There had to be some sort of mistake. She was just an ordinary girl from Earth, not a princess. She looked back at Storm, who looked just as shocked and confused as she did. Then, her eyes fell upon a portrait hanging off the wall, and her heart stopped.

It was the royal couple, admittedly at least a decade younger, smiling at the painter. But that's not what caught Marcia's attention. What caught her eye was the tiny infant that the lady held in her arms, dressed in a long white dress trimmed with lace, with a matching bonnet. Marcia recognized the child right away from her own baby pictures that she'd seen a million times. The only difference was that the baby had pale yellow crescent moons on her cheeks—just like Marcia did right now.

For Marcia, time seemed to stop cold, as her entire world felt as if it were turning upside down. The infant in the portrait was not a stranger. It was Marcia. She was the baby that the woman was holding in the painting. She slowly turned her head towards the woman in the throne room, who was beaming like the moon, like the real moon, as her glittering eyes rested on Marcia. The man smiled, too, and spoke four words that nearly made Marcia faint.

"Welcome home, my daughter."


	4. The Truth & Goodbyes

Marcia felt as if all the wind had suddenly been knocked right out of her. She was a princess?! These people in the throne room were her parents?! If that was so, than who were Rafeal and Angie? The people from Earth who had raised her, cared for her, provided for her? Why had she grown up with them and not with these two strangers in the throne room with her?

The woman hurried to Marcia with open arms, wrapping her tightly in a hug. "My darling daughter! You've found your way home!" 

The man approached his wife and the daughter they had just met, and threw his arms around the both of them. "Your heart is true, it must be. For it has led you back to us."

To their surprise and disappointment, Marcia immediately shoved them both away, sputtering a string of words that, put together, made very little sense to them. Finally, after gathering herself, she finally started speaking in sentences they could understand.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up! There is no way that you're my mom and dad!" They looked sad at that statement. "Whatever do you mean?"

"I have a mom and dad already!", Marcia said. "Their names are Angie and Rafeal Diaz. They live on Earth, and they've been taking care of me my entire life. I just met you guys!"

”Yeah!", cried Storm, finally stepping out of the shadows to back up his best friend. He narrowed his eyes at the King and Queen and pointed an index finger back and forth between them. "How do we know you're really Marcy's parents?!"

"Marcy?", asked the Queen, looking back at mentioned teenager.

"Its his nickname for me.", she replied in a tone that was calm, even though she felt anything but. "My given name is Marcia."

The King shook his head. "No, it is not. Your given name is Luna Solsticia Moon. And you are Princess of the Moon Kingdom."

Marcia glared at him. "What? No! My name is Marcia Ulberta Diaz! And I'm not a princess! I'm just a normal girl raised by normal parents!"

"I think you're bluffing!", Storm scoffed, keeping his glare upon the King and Queen. "I know Marcia's real parents! Here!" He pulled a pair of dimensional scissors out of his jean pocket and used it to cut a hole in the ozone. "Storm, what are you doing?", asked Marcia. "We're all going to Earth!", he told her, taking her by the hand. "Angie and Raf will straighten out this whole mess!"

He led her through the swirling portal, the King and Queen close behind them.  
\-----------------  
Angie and Rafeal did not expect their daughter and her best friend to walk into the house through one of the magic portal they were so proud of using. And they definitely did not expect the two teens to bring a finely-dressed couple with them.

"Marcia! Honey!"

Angie went to hug Marcia, which was a little awkward with her swollen pregnant belly. Marcia Jr. was due to arrive in just a couple of weeks, and her namesake was excited to finally meet her little sister.

"Sweetheart, you should have told me that you were coming.", said Rafeal. "I would have made some snacks."

"Its kinda a spur-of-the-moment thing.", Marcia said, glamcing at her sneakered feet, unsure if how to explain the situation.

Luckily, she didn't have to, as Storm stepped in to tell them everything. "We just need you to clear something up.", he said. He gestured to the King and Queen, who waved at the other couple nervously. "Greetings. I am King Solstice, and this is my wife, Queen Diana." "How do you do?", the woman asked softly.

Storm rolled his eyes and continued. "Anyway, these people must've lost their marbles or something, because they say Marcia's their daughter, and we all know that can't be true, because you guys are her parents! So anyway, can you just tell them that and that they must've made a mistake?"

At Storm's words, Angie and Rafeal stiffened, their eyes going wide, and they glanced at one another briefly before turning their focus back at Storm. He waited for them to speak up in their defense, to claim that Marcia was their child and not that of this other couple. But neither of them said a word.

Marcia looked back and forth between her parents and realized that they looked like a couple of deers caught in headlights. "Mom? Dad? What's going on?"

Angie looked down at the ground, blocked by her protruding gut, wearing a guilty expression. "We...We always planned to tell you someday." She looked back at Marcia with glassy green eyes. "I guess someday is today." Marcia felt numb. In the back of her mind, she knew what they were going to tell her, but denial blocked out the voice. "Tell me what?"

"Remember how we've always celebrated your birthday on the 22nd of November?", Rafeal started.

"Yes...because that's the day I was born, right?", Marcia inquired, her hands shaking.

"Well...", Angie trailed off. "The truth is...we don't actually know what day you were born. We celebrate on November 22nd because...because that's the day we found you."

Marcia felt as if the ground had crumbled to dust underneath her feet and dropped her into an abyss of pitch black darkness. "You...You found me?"

"Yes...", mumbled Rafeal, twiddling his thumbs. "One night, someone knocked on our back door. But when I answered it, there was no one there. Just a little baby girl in a basket on the back step. They didn't even leave a note."

Marcia couldn't breathe. "So...that means...you're not really my mom and dad?"

Angie and Rafeal looked as if they were on the verge of tears. "No, sweetheart...we're not."

Storm looked at his best friend, feeling her shock and horror upon this revelation that her entire life as she had known it had been a lie. The Diazes were not her real family. Angie and Rafeal were not her biological parents, nor was the unborn infant that Angie carried her sister.

Silent tears ran down her cheeks as she stared at the Diazes, who looked hurt and guilt ridden. "How...How could you do this to me? What else have you lied to me about?! Did you ever really love me?!"

"Don't even joke about that!", cried Rafeal. "Of course we do! You may not be our flesh and blood, but you are still our daughter, in every way that really matters!" "And we'll always love you, no matter what.", Angie said softly.

Marcia wanted to be mad at them, really she did. But the tone of their voices were so sincere and full of affection, she held no doubt that they had meant every word. Memories of time with them—picking her up from school, teaching her to ride a bike, helping her through her troubles—played in her mind's eye like a movie on fast forward, and there was no faking the looks they had given her back then.

"I love you guys, too.", she sniffled, and she threw her arms around the both of them, sobbing into Rafeal's strong, bulky shoulder.

Angie shushed her, stroking her dark tresses. "That's it. You're still our little girl.", she whispered. "You always will be, no matter where you go, or who you share DNA with." Rafeal smiled and kissed Marcia on the top of her head so tenderly, it made her burst into a new wave of tears.

The Earth couple's eyes met those of the Mewman couple, who looked sad at the display. Queen Diana smiled at Angie and Rafeal sweetly. "Thank you...for caring for Luna in our stead."

The hug was broken as Rafeal wore a confused expression. "Luna?" "Apparently, that's my real name.", Marcia whimpered, wiping away any remaining tears. It was beginning to sink in that the King and Queen had been telling the truth—that she was their biological daughter.

King Solstice cleared his throat. "Yes, well...thank you for taking such good care of her. But I believe its time for us to go. We will send servants to collect Luna's belongings, and—"

Marcia looked back at the King. "Collect my...what are you talking about?"

"Well, now that we have found you again,", he went on to explain. "Its time you came home." "Home?", she mumbled softly.

"To the Moon Kingdom.", Solstice said. "Its time for you to take your rightful place as Princess of the land. We need to prepare you for your role in society. And that begins by moving you back into the royal palace." He came over and took Marcia by the wrist before turning back to Storm. "You boy! Open the portal back to Mewni. We must—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold up!", Storm shouted, holding up a hand to stop the King. "You can't just grab Marcia and take her away! It doesn't work like that!"

"I am a king and her father.", Solstice said firmly. "And as such, I have every right to demand that my daughter live with me and her mother. And as a princess, she has a obligation to the kingdom. And she cannot fulfill her duties here. So I'm taking her back home, end of conversation."

Storm looked back at Marcia, with sad blue puppy-dog eyes. "Marcia...what do you have to say about all this?"

Marcia was speechless for a minute or two, and rightfully so. When she had woken up just this morning, she had been Marcia Diaz, an ordinary girl serving as a squire to the Prince Dragonfly. Now she was Luna Moon, princess and heir to the throne of the Moon Kingdom.

When she finally regained her voice, she said softly, "He's...He's right, Storm. I'm not a normal girl anymore. I'm a princess. And I have to be there for my kingdom, just like you have to be there for yours."

Storm shook his head. He couldn't believe she was just going with this stranger, just like that. That wasn't the Marcia he knew. She had never let anyone dictate her like that, ever. "But, Marcy—"

"Storm.", she cut him off in a stern yet gentle tome. "I don't really think I have a choice."

The boy with lightning bolts on his cheeks looked as if someone had kicked his puppy, but he closed his mouth and nodded reluctantly.

Marcia looked up at Solstice solemnly. "At least give me a few days to pack and say goodbye."

The King looked doubtful, but he nodded as well.  
\-----------------  
Marcia watched as the servants from the Moon Kingdom loaded the last of her luggage into the carriage. She and Storm had told the news to everyone they knew, even the ones from Earth. Marcia felt that Jackson, Jonah, Felicia, Alison and Sensei Brenda deserved to hear the truth in person from her and not through someone else. They were all floored to discover that not only had Marcia been adopted, but she was also royalty from another dimension, just like Storm.

Marcia glanced down at the blue dance dress that she wore on special occasions, like her first date with Jackson, or Ruberiot and Foolduke's wedding where she and Storm had kissed in the photo booth. Queen Diana had told her to wear her best clothes for when they arrived back at the palace. She and her husband had seemed skeptical when they saw their daughter in the short, contemporary attire, but it was the fanciest thing Marcia owned.

She had already bid a sort of second farewell to her Earth friends and her parents, and now she had the rest to take care of. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends—Tammy, Kelly, and Pony Head—all lined up to say their goodbyes to her. She decoded to start with Tammy, who, despite their rocky start and their respective histories with Storm, had become her sister from a demon mister.

"I still can't believe you're royalty.", Tammy said with a laugh. Despite it being meant to lighten the mood, it just made it all the more heavier. "I knew we had a bunch in common, but...wow. Hey, if you ever need any princess pointers, just give me a call."

"Will do.", said Marcia, and she hugged Tammy tightly before moving onto Kelly.

"Guess this means we won't be seeing you around much at dragon-cycling club.", the green-haired boy joked. He and Marcia were part of a gang of dragon-cycle riders, along with Heckapoo, Talon, and another being called Chad.

Marcia smiled at him. "I'll try my best to be there." She gave him a big, dragon-strong hug.

"Just so you know,", piped up Pony Head. "You being a bonafide princess does NOT change anything for me! As far as I'm concerned, you are still Earth Turd! If you think I'm gonna start being all sappy sweet to you, you are wrong! I am not gonna start going easy on you just 'cause you're royalty now!"

Marcia smiled widely. "I wouldn't want it any other way."

She hugged his floating pony-headed body to her cheek, to which he then responded, "I am not crying! Those are not tears! I just have something in my eye!"

Marcia's gaze fell to Storm and his parents, King Mars and Queen Rivera. She walked over to the Dragonfly trio slowly, never looking away once.

King Mars stepped forward first. "Congratulations on finding your family. And your new status. We're looking forward to having you in our circles. You're one of us now." He smiled at her warmly, something he reserved only for those important to him or his beloved ones. And the best friend of his dear son definitely fit into that category.

"It won't be the same without you here, Marcia, my girl.", said Rivera in her usual jolly tone. "Have fun at your new home. But if anything happens, just know that you always have a place here at Dragonfly Castle."

Marcia smiled and hugged the two monarchs. "Thank you, Your Majesties."

"No more need for formalities, my dear.", said Mars. "Just call us Mars and Rivera."

Marcia looked at Storm, who was glancing down at his purple sneakers, not daring to look her in the eye. This would be the toughest goodbye of all. She remembered the pain of having to leave him after Toffee's defeat, when she had to return to Earth, before she decided to move back to Mewni. She didn't want to go through that again, but it had to be done, else she would never forgive herself.

She stood before him and took a deep breath. "So..." She could find no more words.

"So,", he went on, still not looking up from his feet. "This is it. You're leaving me again."

She swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes...but this time, I'll just be a carriage ride away! And I promise, I'll visit as often as I can! It'll be o—"

She was silenced by Storm throwing himself at her and enveloping her in a tight hug, even tighter than the one he had given her when she went back to Earth. "But Mom's right.", he said in a trembling voice. "It won't be the same for me without you."

Marcia smiled softly as she wrapped her arms around him. "It won't be the same for me, either. But we'll make it work. I promise we'll make it work."

He pulled back, and she gasped softly seeing the tears welled up in his baby blue eyes. "I'll call you every single day. No—twice a day! And don't tell me not to, 'cause I will! I made up my mind, and I'm sticking to it!"

She chuckled sweetly. "I know. I wouldn't expect anything less from Storm Dragonfly." They shared a sad but wistful smile.

"Luna."

The King's voice broke the spell upon the two teenagers. Marcia glanced over her shoulder to see her biological parents waiting for her next to the royal carriage. "Its time."

The new princess turned back to her best friend, looking up at him sadly. "I guess...this is it." She leaned up on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek so sweetly that the tears spilled from his eyes. "Goodbye."

Marcia turned around and walked towards the carriage. Storm followed her closely behind, like a loyal dog following it's beloved human, and watched as King Solstice and Queen Diana helped her up into the carriage before climbing in after her and shutting the doors behind them. Rushing to the other side of the coach, he saw her leaning out the window and reached his hand out for her.

She gladly accepted, taking her hand in his, and they clung onto one another, not releasing even as the carriage starting rolling along away from Dragonfly Castle. As the horses trotted faster and faster, Storm only held onto Marcia's hand tighter, not wanting to let go, ever. In her eyes, he could see that she did not want to let go either.

But she knew that he could not follow them all the way there, just like she knew that he would not be the first to release. And so, with the heaviest of hearts, she finally loosened her grip and allowed her fingers to slip from his, her spirit cracking just a bit when she lost his touch. She stole a few precious moments to keep staring at him before she ducked her head back inside and began to cry.

Storm stood on the road, watching the coach roll further and further away, helpless and hopeless. Silent tears rolled down the bolts on his cheeks as he forced himself to keep looking on as his best friend rode further and further away from the Dragonfly Kingdom...and from him.


	5. Her New Home

Marcia wept the whole way to the Moon Kingdom. Every time she thought that her tear-ducts were all dried up, another wave of salty water burst forth like the sea from a broken dam. Solstice and Diana did their best to console her, but their efforts did little to put her at ease. Halfway home, they gave up trying and spent the rest of the journey in silence.

When the carriage arrived at the border of the Moon Kingdom, they were met with hundreds of cheering citizens, lined up on the streets, pushing and shoving and jumping up and down to try and get a glimpse of their princess. Marcia stayed hidden behind the coach doors so that no one would see her puffy, reddened eyes or tear-stained cheeks.

They came to the royal palace, and the gates slammed shut behind them with a cold clang!. The coach pulled up to the main doors, and Marcia looked out to see an older woman standing there, awaiting their arrival. She was wearing a fancy gown as silvery gray as her done-up hair, as well as an expression that looked as if she had just finished sucking on a lemon.

The servants helped Marcia get out of the carriage safely before scurrying off to unload her bags and bring them inside. The woman approached the younger girl, dark, calculating eyes scanning her up and down, as if searching her for some little detail that Marcia was not sure what was. Finally, the older woman spoke.

"Greetings, princess." The tone of her voice was polite but icy, making Marcia shrink. "I am Lady Febe. I have been assigned to be your governess."

Marcia blinked twice, unsure of what to feel about such news. "Governess?"

"I will oversee your well-being in the palace.", Febe explained. "I will guide you, and help you adjust to your new role in life. Just follow what I say, and you will do just fine. Understood?"

Marcia nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. "Understood, mam."

"Up, up, up, up, up!", Febe said sharply. "You will address my as madame." "Yes, madame.", Marcia corrected herself.

Febe glanced down at the timid, nervous princess. "Well than...let's show you to your room."  
\--------------  
When the white wood door opened, Marcia was in awe. Her new bedroom was twice as big as her old one. The floors were covered in soft white fur rugs that made soft sounds when she walked on them. The walls were white, with a pattern of the crest of the royal family all over it. There was an white ornate wardrobe on one side of the room, and a gleaming white vanity desk and a full-length mirror on the other.

Marcia plopped onto her new canopy bed, and founds that the bedsheets were made of pure silk, and the covers, of finest lavender velvet. The decorative pillows had been stuffed with fluffy feathers, and the canopy top hung over her head as smooth as a lavender-colored sky. She leaned towards the window in the corner of the room and found she had blossom trees growing just outside, and there was a ledge on the window where she could sit.

Marcia decided that it was a very fine bedroom, but it didn't suit her well. It didn't have her karate posters hanging on the gleaming walls, or her Girl Scout badges and vests resting on the bookshelf next to the wardrobe, or her favorite picture of her and Storm sitting on the pretty white nightstand table with spindly legs. It didn't feel like home.

She turned to her mother and Febe. "Can you help me get my things set up in here?"

"We'll do that tomorrow, darling.", said Diana, motioning for the servants to set her daughter's bags down in the corner of the room. "But its getting rather late. We should help you get ready for bed."

"Bed?", Marcia repeated after her. "But the sun hasn't even set yet."

"We need you in bed when it does.", Febe told her sternly. "A princess always rises early."

"What Lady Febe means to say, dearest,", said Diana. "Is that you have a busy day tomorrow. You need to reserve your energy."

The two older women gently nudged Marcia towards the connected bathroom to begin her bedtime preparations, closing the door behind them gently to give them privacy.  
\----------------  
Marcia blushed as she sat in the tub, her body from the shoulders down completely emerged in lilac-scented water. Diana and two maids were giving her a bath, rubbing her body with fine soaps and washing her hair with lavish oils. She had insisted that she could clean herself, but the maids seemed deaf to her claims.

Diana sat on the edge of the tub and began running an ivory comb through her daughter's long, dark hair. As she undid the knots, she began to sing a lullaby that gave Marcia a sense of calm. "My mother used to do this when I was a girl.", she hummed as she worked on the ends of her daughter's tangled tresses. "I always dreamed that I'd do it with my own daughter." She set the comb down and hugged Marcia from behind around her head and neck. "You don't know how much joy it gives me to have you back in my arms at last."

Marcia felt torn inside. She still loved Angie, the woman who had raised her, who she had always called her mother, and still did. But at the same time, she couldn't help but feel some sort of connection to Diana, the woman who had given birth to her.

Diana unwrapped her arms and reached for a towel to put around her child. "That should be enough. Come out of there, and we'll help you dress for bed."

Marcia shyly rose from the tub, turned away as to not to let anyone see her more sensitive areas, and allowed her mother to cover her with the towel and lead her out of the bathroom.

Once back in her bedroom, the Queen watched the maids dress the princess in a long cream-colored high-waisted nightgown trimmed with lace, with a long soft pink ribbon tied into a bow at the chest, with the ends dangling loose around her stomach. Once her hair was dry, they arranged it into a long braid and tied it with a matching pink hair ribbon.

Diana was ushering the princess to her bed when Marcia stopped and cried, "Wait!" Running to her luggage, she went digging through her things until she found what she was looking for. She pulled out a slip of paper of some sort and went over to bed. Upon closer examination, Diana saw that it was a photograph of Storm Dragonfly, but she decided it was best not to question her daughter about it.

Marcia climbed into bed, and Diana tucked her in and smiled at her child. "Goodnight, sweet princess." The Queen placed a tender kiss on Marcia's forehead, walked to the doorway, and, with two claps of her hands, turned off the lights before she walked out of the room and closed the door behind her. Marcia's heart jolted when she heard the click of a lock. She was shut in, completely.

She spent the next hour lying on her back, staring up at the sheen canopy top of her bed, the events of the past few days still sinking in. It still didn't feel real to her. She kept thinking that maybe this was all just a dream, and at at moment, she would wake up in her own bed at Dragonfly Castle. Storm would be waiting for her at the door with a smile and ask her her which dimension she wanted to venture to today.

But she had to accept it. This was her life now. No longer was she an ordinary Earth girl. No longer was she the royal squire to Prince Dragonfly. She was a princess now, and a future Queen to boot. Sure, she could mope and pout and brood over how her entire world had turned upside-down overnight, but that would do no good. The only option she had was to adjust to her new role as best she could.

Marcia held up the photo of her best friend and sighed. "Goodnight, Storm." Giving the picture a little kiss, she slipped it under her pillow and lay her head down, her last thoughts before drifting into slumber being of him.


	6. Royal Life

Marcia awoke to the sounds of birds chirping just outside her window. At first, she was very confused when she opened her eyes and found herself in a frilly, princessy bedroom. But then, the events of the past few days came flooding back, and she sighed as she fell back into her mattress.

"Good morning, Your Highness."

She jumped up with a squeal and looked to see Lady Febe standing at her bedside, along with two other women dressed in ladies' maids outfits, the black dresses with frilly white aprons and headpieces. "How—How long have you been standing there?!", she screamed.

"About an hour, miss.", said one of the maids.

Lady Febe cleared her throat. "These are you personal ladies's maids, Kitty and Sara. They'll assist with your dressing."

Marcia smiled nervously as she climbed out of bed. "That-That's very kind of you, but I can get dressed by myself..."

She walked to her suitcases and opened the one where she had packed her clothes, only to find it empty. "What...Where did my clothes go?"

"Oh, we gave those away to the less fortunate.", Febe said.

Marcia spun around to stare at her with wide eyes. "You did what?!"

"We had no choice!", exclaimed the governess. "They were...unfitting for a princess!"

"Don't worry, miss.", said Kitty. "While we were waiting for you to awaken, we got out all your knick-knacks and such and arranged them around as you can see."

Marcia examined her surroundings to see that indeed, everything else from her previous life—her Girl Scout vests and badges and sashes, her collection of Disney pins, the dimensional scissors that she'd earned from Heckapoo in his home dimension, all the photographic memories of her life before—had all been arranged neatly on the shelves and tabletops of her new room. At least she had that.

"Well, what am I supposed to wear now?", she asked. Febe smiled, and Marcia got a bad feeling in her stomach.  
\-------------  
"No more! No more!"

Marcia pleaded for mercy as Sara laced her into a white corset, squeezing and twisting her upper body into an hourglass figure. She gasped for air as her stomach became smaller and smaller under the strong pressure and shifting the excess to her breasts and hips. At last, with one final yank, Sara tied the laces and set the garment in place.

Marcia struggled to catch her breath as Febe began to work on arranging her hair into a prettier style than the high ponytail she usually sported. As she undid the curling rags that had been sitting in the princess's tresses for an hour, she launched into a lecture. "The King would be horrified to find his only daughter and the heir to his throne dressed like a commoner!"

Febe finished untying the rags, looking pleased to see the long dark halo of lovely open curls that floated around the princess's head. She motioned to Kitty to come forth, and continued speaking. "The Princess of the Moon Kingdom must be attired like a lady.", she concluded as she and Kitty slipped a crinoline onto Marcia's hips.

Marcia frowned as she struggled with her new, lace-covered clothes. "I, uh, don't have to dress like this all the time, do I?", she asked.

Febe chuckled at that as she got out a fancy glass bottle with a puff spray nozzle. "Oh, of course not, Your Highness."

Marcia sighed in relief at that. Her relief vanished when she was suddenly enveloped in a cloud of expensive perfume. "You'll need something much more formal for special events."

Marcia coughed for a moment before her governess's words registered in her mind. "More formal?! But it took a half hour to get me to look like this!"

Febe simply shrugged and got out an assortment of cosmetic products.

"Can't I just wear some of the stuff I brought from home?", asked Marcia as Febe powdered her face, neck and arms.

Her governess laughed even harder at such a notion as she pinched Marcia's cheeks to put a little color in them. "Very amusing, Princess.", she giggled, dabbing just a bit of rouge cream to Marcia's lips. "But its not how things are done."

She turned Marcia towards the full length mirror, and held up a pretty pink hairbow to the top of the head of the princess, who groaned in response to having to wear such a thing.  
\---------------  
King Solstice and Queen Diana sat at the dining hall table, awaiting the arrival of their daughter. At their sides, the royal cooks stood with piping hot meals, to be served the moment the Princess arrived for breakfast. It would be their first meal together as a newly reunited family, and the royal couple could not have been more excited.

After what seemed like an eternity to the anxious monarchs, Marcia entered the room. They were pleased to see that Lady Febe had kept her word and made certain the Princess was dressed appropriately. She wore a beautiful gown decorated with panels of coral pink and creamy white, with a pretty pink bow on the top front of the dress. The sleeves reached to her elbows, the ends trimmed with cream-colored lace, matching to the lace on the hem of her flowing skirt and just above her breasts serving as the front collar.

Her long brown hair, so dark it was almost black, had been curled perfectly and adorned with a big coral pink bow at the back of her head, with a large pearl surrounded by smaller pearls pinned to the knot of the tied ribbon. A choker of pearls with a tiny pink bow tied on the right side encircled her throat, and pearl drop earrings dangled just below her earlobes.

Solstice and Diana smiled as Marcia joined them at the table. She didn't say a word to them, or to anyone else for that matter. She didn't even look at them, her brown eyes cast downwards at the sleek tiled palace floors. She sat down quietly, and their breakfasts were served to them. The King and Queen had barely taken two bites of their food when they took notice of their daughter's manners.

She was slouched over the table, one of her elbows propped up on the surface. Her other arm controlled the fork, scooping up her food and shoving them into her mouth rather hastily. She chewed quite loudly, smacking her lips as she finished before immediately repeating the same consuming action. After a couple of more bites, she looked up to see her parents and the servants staring at her rather shockingly. "What?"

Solstice shook his head. "Its certainly a good thing you start your lessons today."

Marcia sat up a little straighter, though still not entirely, at that. "Lessons? What lessons?"

"Your royal lessons, of course!", Diana said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "And not a moment too soon. You have fifteen years of lessons to catch up on!"

Marcia blinked. "So...what's first? Social Studies? Algebra?"

To her surprise, her questions were met with haughty laughter. "Oh, no, no, no, darling!", said Diana. "Not those kinds of lessons! We're talking about princess lessons!"

Marcia's face scrunched up rather unladylike in confusion. "Princess lessons?" She had never heard of such a thing. "What are those?"

"Lessons to teach you how to behave like a proper lady.", Diana explained. "Lessons on etiquette, deportment, fashion, music and dancing, those sorts of things. Lady Febe will be your teacher for most of these lessons. You'll need them if you hope to become a good princess. Your father and I trust that you'll do your best to master the things you're taught."

Marcia frowned at the thought. The lessons that her mother had just described sounded horribly dull and not suited to her personal preferences at all. They were basically going to teach her how to act like at those snooty royal girls she knew at Dragonfly Castle, back when she still served as Storm's squire, the ones who teased and looked down their pretty noses at her for preferring knight training to ballroom dancing.

But before she could utter a word, she was pulled out of her chair by Lady Febe. "Let's get started, than.", she insisted, dragging Marcia out of the room, not even going her a chance to finish her breakfast. "The sooner you begin your training, the better."  
\-------------------  
"We'll start with something simple." Lady Febe held up two lace folding fans, one white and one black. "The language of the fan."

She handed the white one to Marcia, who eyed it like Febe had just handed her a toad with ten eyes. It was her first princess lesson, headed up by no one by the countess herself.

"First things first, you open it like this." Febe took her black fan and, with a graceful flick of the wrist, the accessory fell open wide in a perfect smooth motion. "Now you try."

Marcia tried to copy her actions, but when she flicked her wrist, the fan slipped from her fingers and was tossed a few feet away, hitting a servant on the side. "Yow!"

Febe retrieved the fan and returned it to the princess with a nervous chuckle. "We'll work on that later. Now, once you open it, hold it up just above your nose."

Marcia opened her fan the old-fashioned way and mimicked the same position that Febe was showing her. "Good, good. Now flutter it like so." 

She fluttered her fan in front of her in small, delicate motions. Her attention was snagged by great whooshing sounds, and she looked to see the princess waving her fan in large, wide strides.

"Not like that!", she scolded. "You're creating a tornado! Watch me!"

Marcia examined her royal tutor's fan fluttering, in addition to her flirtatious smile and batting eyelashes. "Coy...feminine..." She stopped. "Now try again."

Marcia sighed. "Got it." She obeyed, and made smaller motions this time.

"And don't forget to smile.", said Febe sharply.

Marcia forced the corners of her mouth upwards, but it was hard. She didn't feel like smiling. She felt silly. Luckily, her fake smile was enough to fool, or at least satisfy the governess.

"Good, good. Its a start."  
\---------------  
Marcia gulped as the fourth and final book was perched on the tiptop of her head. "The future Queen of the kingdom must be the epitome of grace.", said Febe, adjusting the books so that the books were lined up perfectly. You must learn to move without disturbing these books. Now, let's begin."

"Lift your skirts delicately, like this." She moved Marcia's hands and placed the skirts of her gown in them, so that she held them tightly with her fingertips. "Now take small steps towards the other side of the room."

Marcia had barely finished ome step forward when the books toppled over to the ground.

"No, no, no!", Febe scolded, coming over to the princess. "Your posture is all wrong."

"Chin up!" She lifted Marcia's chin higher. "Shoulders back!" She thrust her shoulders backwards, straightening her back in the process. "Tummy in!" She tucked her stomach inwards. Stepping back, she admired Marcia's reformed position. "That's better."

Marcia frowned. "I'm a little uncomfortable."

"Comfort has no place in the requirements for royal life.", said Febe, gathering the books off the floor and piling them back onto Marcia's head. "Now let's try that again. And this time, keep your head up."  
\---------------  
Marcia sat at the tea table, staring at the set placed before her. It was a delicate china teacup with painted flowers on it, sitting upon a matching painted saucer. On her left, a slightly thicker small plate held a lace-edged cloth napkin, a matching napkin placed below the plate and teacup.

As the governess poured the tea, she gave Marcia a critical eye. "Sit up straight!" 

Marcia did as she was told assuming the position Febe had taught her, keeping in mind to cross her ankles, another thing her governess had told her earlier. Febe sat across from Marcia, in the same perfect position. "Now, let me show you how to behave at the tea table."

"Hold the handle of your teacup with your right fingers, and hold the saucer with your left, like so." She took the thin handle of her cup firmly by the fingers on her right hand, the pinkie extended felinely, and took the saucer in her left hand.

Marcia copied her example. "And don't forget to extend the pinkie." Marcia sighed, but reluctantly obeyed, sticking out the pinkie on her right hand, while still gripping the cup handle tightly.

Febe continued. "When you raise it up, make sure to only lift the cup very slightly off the saucer, as little as possible. When you have raised it halfway up, lift your cup completely off the saucer and bring it to your lips like this." She gracefully lifted her cup and tilted it so that it was completely diagonal as she sipped her tea slowly and daintily. Then she lowered the cup back to the saucer with a similar, just as graceful movement. "Now you do the same."

Marcia was able to mimic her governess's graceful lifting of the cup, but when she drank her tea, it was more of a slurp than a sip. An annoyed scowl graced Febe's face.

"I-I'm sorry, I—" Before she could finish apologizing, she lost her grip on her teacup and fumbled with it for a moment or two, spilling tea on her fancy dress before the cup dropped onto the floor and shattered to pieces.

Marcia's face flushed with embarrassment as she glanced up at her governess, who looked at the broken cup with an unamused expression before turning her attention back to the princess.

Placing her cup back gracefully onto the tea table, she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her right fingertips. "This may be harder than I thought."


	7. The Visit

Storm sighed as he scrolled through his feed on Instagram on his smartphone. It had been three whole months since Marcia had moved out of Dragonfly Castle to move in with her biological parents at their palace. He had not seen her in person since then. Every time he tried to set something up, he would be informed that she was too busy at the time. Sure, they spoke on the phone every night before bed, but it just wasn't the same.

Just then, who should happen to pass by the open door of his son's room but King Mars, clad in his signature king's armor, fresh back from the most recent hunt for Meteorite, Eclipse Dragonfly's illegitimate son. He saw Storm sitting at the foot of his bed, wearing a dismal expression that rarely graced his usual cheery face. His eyes were glued to his phone screen, but they seemed to be staring a million miles away.

Mars knew instantly that Storm was missing Marcia. It seemed as if when the newfound princess left to fulfill her role in the Moon Kingdom, she had taken a piece of Storm with her. Slowly, but surely, the Dragonfly prince seemed to be loosing a little more light with every day that passed without seeing his best friend. Mars thought for a moment before his face brightened.

Knocking on the door first, Mars entered the room as Storm glanced up at his father. "Oh...hey, dad."

"Hello, Storm.", the King said kindly as he sat beside his only child. Clearing his throat, he spoke. "So, I was thinking, its been a long time since you and Mar...I mean, Luna, saw one another. I think you two are long overdue for a visit."

"I've tried, Dad.", Storm sighed. "But she always tells me they're keeping her too busy there to send her over for a visit."

Mars smirked, a rare twinkle of smugness in his eye. "Well, perhaps if she cannot come to you, you will just have to go visit her."

Storm looked up, hope etched onto his pale face. "Really? You think Solstice and Diana will agree to that?"

Mars patted the younger boy's shoulder. "Leave it to me, son. I'll talk to them. I'm sure they'll listen to me. They may rule the Moon Kingdom, but the Dragonflys are the actual and supreme rulers of all of Mewni."

Storm's lightning bolt emblems glowed a bright pink as he threw his arms around his father. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

Mars gladly hugged him back, his own cheekmarks glowing bright purple. "Anytime, my dear boy."  
\------------------  
Storm sat in the carriage, anxiously fiddling with his signature devil-horned baseball cap. His father had come through for him, and arranged for his son to visit Marcia at the Moon Palace. Storm had packed a large duffel bag of necessities for all their favorite things to do, and he could not have been more excited.

The carriage pulled up in front of the palace, the royal family lined up at the gates to greet Prince Dragonfly, dressed in fine clothes, as usual. Diana noticed that her daughter had not stopped smiling since King Mars had set up his son's visit. The corners of her mouth were easily turned up, and her expression radiated warm sunshine. What's more, Diana realized that she had never seen her daughter smile like that before. Ever.

Manfred hopped off the back of the carriage and opened the door on his side. Clearing his throat, he announced loudly and clearly, "Presenting, His Royal Highness, son of King Dragonfly, actual heir to to the supreme throne of Mewni, the latest in the great Dragonfly legacy—His Excellence, the Crown Prince Storm Comet Dragonfly!"

"YEAH—YUH!" The regal mood was shattered instantly with the yell of the young prince as he jumped out of the carriage like a monkey jumping from a tree and stomped his booted feet into the ground below, sending it skidding at least a foot from where he had landed. "Storm D-Fly in da house, y'all! Let's get this party star-ted!"

The nobles gathered to oversee his arrival were horrified at such a blatant and undignified display. Was this brash, unusually loud boy really the man who would one day become King of all Mewni? Solstice and Diana were no less shocked by the manner in which Storm had chosen to introduce himself. Marcia, on the other hand, seemed thrilled as she rushed over to greet him.

She instantly wrapped her arms him tightly, squeezing him hard as she put all her sadness of missing him these past three months and happiness over finally seeing him again into her hug. "I missed you sooooo much!"

He returned the gesture wholeheartedly. "I missed you, too!"

He pulled back, and was surprised to see Marcia dressed in not her trusty hoodie, but an elegant dress of sky blue, with a full skirt and a tucked-in waist. It had poofy sleeves, too, and shone a bit in the sun, much like the silver necklace and earrings she donned. She even wore a tiny silver tiara in her hair, which had been curled and swept off her face with pearl-tipped pins. When he looked closer at her face, he saw that she was even wearing a bit of makeup. Storm had to blink a few times to make sure it was really Marcia standing in front of him.

"Wow...", he said when he finally regained his voice. "I feel kinda underdressed." He glanced down at his own outfit, his blue T-shirt and jeans, with a green hoodie tied around his hips by the sleeves. He certainly looked plain and sloppy compared to the primped and polished ensembles of those around him.

Storm walked up to the King. "Whassup, man?"

Solstice stared Storm down with an uncomfortable expression. "Nice to see you again." A thick silence reigned over them, until Diana broke it.

"You must be hungry after such a long journey.", she said, in a much sweeter tone of voice than her husband had used. "We had the palace cooks prepare a special meal for your visit. If you'll follow us..."

Marcia began to lead Storm through the entrance, when a sharp, prim voice rang out. "Remember your training!"

At that, Storm noticed how Marcia, stiffened, straightening her back and gathering her skirt by the tips of her fingers. "Who said that?"

"My governess.", Marcia mumbled, wearing an expression that was mixed with discomfort and anxiety.

Curious, but thinking he should save any further questions for when they were not surrounded by prying eyes, Storm followed Marcia into the Moon Palace.  
\---------------  
Storm sat back in his chair, patting his stomach. "That was an awesome meal, Diana!", he said gratefully to the Queen. "Uh, do you mind if I call you Diana?"

The elder woman giggled. "I do not see why not. It seems like a term of endearment. Don't you think, dear?"

She directed that last statement at her husband, who seemed to have spent the entire meal observing Storm and his own eating habits. He glanced at his wife momentarily before looking back at Storm with a skeptical eye. "I suppose.", he replied in a deadpan tone. "However, you will address me as Your Majesty. Understood?"

Storm gulped at the severity of his voice tone. "Yes, sir—I mean, Your Majesty."

Storm had noticed Marcia had displayed manners different to the ones she had had back before this whole "princess" thing happened. She sat up straighter, took smaller, daintier bites, and chewed more slowly and quietly. After she had finished her meal, she had glanced over at the gray-haired woman, whom she had confirmed was her governess. The countess had given her a nod of approval, and Marcia had smiled in relief.

As the servants took their plates away, Storm wasted no time in holding up his duffel bag to Marcia and smiling. "So, Marcy, I brought over all our favorite games and DVDs and stuff, and even some ingredients from the kitchen back home so we can cook your Super Awesome Nachos! Which do you want to do fir—"

Suddenly, his duffel bag was snatched up by Lady Febe, who gave the crown prince an annoyed glare. "Games and TV is for children and adults who have nothing better to do.", she spoke coldly. "As for cooking, royalty has no need for such. One has servants to do that for them. I've taken the liberty of arranging how you'll spend your visit here."

She snapped her fingers, and a butler appeared at her side and unfurled a scroll. "First, we'll ride horses through the countryside. The fresh air will do you good. Then you'll join us for afternoon tea on the terrace, followed by a lovely stroll in the gardens. Afterwards, you'll have dinner with us, and finish off the evening with a private soiree, where we'll play the waltz."

Storm frowned deeply. The activities that the governess had scheduled for them sounded awfully boring. If he had wanted to do such things, he would have gone to visit his snooty aunts and uncles from his father's side. But when he glanced over at Marcia, he found that her face held a touch of nervousness. Her eyes spoke to him. Febe was too stubborn. There was no way they would be able to sway her decisions.

So Storm sucked up his pride and said, "Okay than. Let's do it." He would have preferred the games and the nachos, but he knew better than to make a scene when he was a guest in someone else's home, or kingdom, so to speak. Besides, he was with Marcia. And that was all that really mattered.


	8. Hope

Storm took careful steps as he spun to the music that the orchestra was playing. Marcia followed his lead, twirling gracefully in his arms as the piece carried them around the ballroom. King Solstice and Queen Diana were also sharing in a waltz, looking pleased as punch as they danced in perfect time and poise.

It was nearing the end of Storm's visit to the Moon Kingdom, and while it had not gone exactly as he had planned, he was thankful just to be able to see Marcia in the flesh again. Even if the activities they had done had been a bit on the dull side, he was happy just to be with his best friend, whom he had missed so dearly.

"So...", Storm said, struggling to find the right words. "They certainly value tradition here." 

Marcia rolled her eyes playfully. "Tell me about it. I don't think I've eaten a single grain of sugar since I got here. The countess insists on keeping me on a diet. I don't see how it matters, though. They squish me into a corset everyday, so that fixes that."

"You have to wear corsets?", asked Storm, wearing a pinched, uncomfortable look on his face, as if he were the one being forced to wear said ladies' garment.

"And hoop skirts.", Marcia added. "The day I got here, they gave all my old clothes to charity! They said it was 'unfitting' for a princess." Storm said a silent prayer that the people back home let him wear his casual attire. Not only that, now that I am a princess, I have to act like a 'proper lady' all the time! Everyday, I hear the same thing! Keep your back straight, walk gracefully, don't forget to smile...I try my best, but I keep falling short of their expectations. As far as these people are concerned, I don't walk, talk, dance, eat, sleep, or even breathe like a princess should! They expect me to be this perfect royal lady, but its impossible to keep up."

"And the icing on the cake? They never leave me alone. Everywhere I go, I have at least one person accompanying me there. I can't even go to the bathroom without a servant following me inside! The only time I ever have a moment to myself is when I lie in bed at night. And even then, I have to have two guards stand outside my door."

Storm took notice of the decline of joking nature in her voice as she went further and further into detail of her new life. He could clearly see that she was doing her best to adjust to her new routine, but the pressure to be what everyone wanted her to be and the absence of the freedoms that had been taken from her when she was forced into her new role was slowly sucking at her soul.

He pulled her closer, resting his forehead against her, choosing not to comment on the adorable blush that spread across her pretty cheeks, and spoke in a tender, loving tone. "Marcia...if you ever need a break, you're always welcome at Dragonfly Castle."

His best friend sighed with a heavy heart. "In case you haven't noticed, this place is locked up like St. Oleg's B.T."

B.T. was a code, used by people who heard of St. Oleg's Reform School for Wayward Princes. It stood for Before Turdo, and referenced the cold, soul-crushing, individuality-destroying prison it was before Marcia had infiltrated it as Prince Turdo and freed it's pupils/prisoners, leading to the overthrowing of oppressive headmaster Mr. Heinous.

"Well, if anyone can figure out how to make a jailbreak, its Prince Marcia." Storm wiggled his eyebrows, earning a giggle from Marcia. "You always believed in me. At times, more than I think you should." "That's 'cause I've seen what you can do.", he whispered. "Princess or Earth girl, you're no damsel in distress." They locked eyes, and for a moment, the rest of the world around them seemed to melt away, until all that was left was each other.

"Bravo! Bravo!"

And with the clapping of King Solstice's hands, the world reappeared just as quickly as it had vanished. The song had ended, and with it, Prince Storm's visit. The King and Queen walked over and took turns shaking his hand firmly. "It has been a pleasure to have you in our home.", said Diana in a friendly voice. "You really should visit again."

Storm chuckled a bit. "Actually, I was wondering if maybe someday, Marcia could come visit me. You know, in the Dragonfly Kingdom."

Solstice looked doubtful. "Firstly, her name is Luna."

"Its okay, Father.", said aforementioned princess, the "father" word still feeling foreign on her tongue. "He can call me Marcia. I don't mind."

Solstice looked upset at that, but he didn't press the issue any further.

"Secondly, I'm not certain we will have the time. Luna still has a long way to go before she is ready to be formally introduced to the people of the kingdom as their Princess and future Queen. She needs to focus on her training so that she'll be fully prepared by her sixteenth birthday. So I apologize, but a visit to you is not in the cards, and won't be for a long time to come."

It was then Marcia chose to step forward. "But all work and no play drains oneself.", she said, wording things carefully in high hopes to persuade her biological father. "If I have time for myself, to enjoy life with Storm, than I'll learn my lessons faster. And then I'll definitely be ready by my birthday." She bit her lip and held her breath, crossing her fingers on both hands behind her back for good luck.

King Solstice was in deep thought for a moment. He glanced over at his wife, who seemed to have read his mind and approved with a smile and a nod. "Very well.", Solstice said finally. "I suppose we can set aside a day every now and then for you to visit one another. On one condition—you must have a chaperone at all times."

Storm grinned from ear to ear. "Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you!"

He turned to Marcia, who was matching his smile on her own powdered face. "I'll have my dad set up a date to hang as soon as Eclipse's trial is over.", he assured her. Her brown eyes sparkled at him, and his stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies.

"I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you and Eclipse." She knew how important it was for him to prove that Eclipse was not evil for loving a monster.

The royal family escorted Storm outside, where Manfred was waiting for his prince at the carriage. The King and Queen shook the boy's hand before he came to Marcia. They hugged each other tightly, already eager for the next time they would see each other, now that they knew that there would be a next time. They pulled away, and their gazes locked again. And just like before, the rest of the world seemed to melt away.

Marcia smiled so sweetly at him that his heart sang. "Get home safe. And call me when you get back."

And with those words spoken, she dove in and pecked her lips against his cheek, making his face turn as red as his horned cap. When she pulled away, it took a few seconds for the spell of their locked gazes to lose effect and make her realize what she had just done.

Turning their heads away so that neither would see their blushing faces, they shared an awkward final farewell, complete with an uncompleted wave of hands before Storm dashed back into the carriage and slammed the door behind him, curling himself into a ball on the seats as the lions pulled the carriage away back towards the Dragonfly Kingdom.


	9. Conquering Fear

Storm sat back, impressed by Marcia's superior fighting skills, the same skills she had been honing for fifteen years while in Heckapoo's home dimension, trying to get back home. "Not bad, Diaz. Not bad." Taking a moment, he cautiously slipped her wand under Marcia's shirt and began to lift it upwards, only for her to grab it and yank it down hard, glaring at him. "I know what you're thinking, Storm, and the answer is no. They're not back." "Just checking."

Marcia smirked. Had it been any other boy doing such a thing, she would have karate-chopped him, no hesitation. But she knew Storm's intentions were good and pure, and any suggestive words or actions were just him innocently messing with her. He was the only boy in the world—no, the multiverse, who could ever get away with making such jokes or jabs at her.

And right now, she took any chance to let him joke and laugh, even at her expense. Things had really gone to the Lucitor Kingdom the past few days. Meteorite had resurfaced, having learned his true origins as the long-lost son and heir of Eclipse Dragonfly. With this new information, he realized that he had been unjustly robbed of his royal birthright and glorious future as King of Mewni. Unlocking his monsters abilities, he set out to reclaim what he believed to be rightfully his.

King Mars and Eclipse tried to stop him, with some success, but Meteorite refused to end his conquest to recapture the crown that had been taken from him as a baby. Mars was just about to defeat the Monster-Mewman once and for all, but had been stopped by Eclipse in a desperate attempt to save his son, who he still loved too dearly to let any harm come to him. In the process, Mars had been altered strangely, disappearing into a portal to who-knows-where.

With his father gone, Storm was left as acting King. It was up to him to keep his kingdom and all the others safe from Meteorite, who was growing more powerful and was taking a rampage towards the Dragonfly Kingdom to take back the throne that had been stolen from him and his family almost three hundred years ago, sucking the souls from anyone who dared stand in his way.

Storm fiddled with the wand in his hands. "I still don't know about this, Marcy. Will your dad be cool with this?" Marcy rolled her eyes. "Oh, definitely not. I can already hear him say, 'Certainly not! You are not going to put yourself in danger like that! You will stay right here in the palace and wait for this to be taken care of like the proper princess you are!'" She ended her mock rant with a giggle. Storm stared at her blankly. "So...he won't be cool with it?" "Nope.", she said. And then she added with a smirk. "That's why we're not going to tell him."

Storm's big blue eyes doubled in size. "Whaaaaaaa?!" She looked at him with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. Storm smirked. "Doth my ears deceive me? Marcia Diaz, goodie two-shoes, the Safe Kid of Echo Creek, is actually going to go behind her father's back?" Marcia just casually shrugged as she slung her axe over the back of her shoulders. "What he doesn't know won't kill him."

Storm stared at her. "Wow, Marcy. Are you sure about this? Are you really gonna disobey your dad?" "But I'm not really disobeying him.", she pointed out. "If he never finds out, he'll never tell me not to do it. And if he never tells me what not to do, then technically, I won't be going against him if I do it. I can't disobey his orders if he never gives them to me." She and Storm shared a sly smile.

Storm's smirk vanished seconds later as he thought over this idea. "Marcia...I dunno. What if your dad finds out? I don't wanna risk getting you in trouble." Marcia's smile turned sincere. "If there's anything you've taught me since we've met, Storm, its that some risks are worth taking. Sometimes, you gotta break a few rules to really live." "But your dad—"

"Storm." She silenced him with that word and a firm hand on his shoulder. "This is bigger than my dad. Bigger than you and me. The fate of Mewni is up in the air right now. Princess or not, I'm not gonna just stand by and watch Heinous burn your home to the ground! So forget about my dad. Right now, we need to focus on saving Mewni." Storm paused.

"Disregarding how ticked off your pops would be,", he went on. "Just because you can take on my spells, doesn't mean you can take on Meteorite. Honestly...I don't know if anyone can." "Your dad can!", exclaimed Marcia. "You heard Eclipse! If he hadn't interfered, your dad would've had beaten Meteorite! I don't have to stop him! I just need to buy you some time to find your dad and bring him back!"

Determination graced Storm's face, the words of his best friend filling him with hope and confidence. "Alright, than! We need to divide and conquer! You keep Meteorite from reaching the castle, while I go find my dad." "How are you going to do that?" "My dad...is stuck in the Magic Dimension. I gotta go there to find him."

Marcia's heart stopped for a beat. "What?! But that's where you lost your memory!" That's where I almost lost you., she thought. Images of Storm getting trapped there and her almost losing him forever flashed through her mind like a movie on fast-forward. "Its really dangerous." "I know.", said Storm, his voice a mixture of frustration and apprehension. "But...I don't have a choice."

He placed both hands on her shoulders and stared directly at her, sky blue meeting light brown. "Okay, as acting King of all Mewni, I order you, Princess Luna of the Moon Kingdom, or, as I know better as, Marcia Diaz," They shared a smile as he said the name they had first known her with. "To do whatever it takes to stop Meteorite from reaching Dragonfly Castle." Marcia smiled. "I accept my orders."

Storm blushed, red covering the lightning bolts on his cheeks. "Okay, well...you better get started on that.", he said, turning his back to her so that she couldn't get a good look at his tinted face. "Storm...", her gentle voice reached out to him. "You know...you don't have to pretend to be strong around me. I'm your best friend." Storm made strange sounds before he spun around and held out his arms. "I need a hug!"

Marcia didn't say a word, she simply walked over to him and complied to his request, wrapping her arms securely around him. He returned it, tightening his hold on her. They stood there like that, not saying anything. In that moment, all their worries were gone, and the only thing that mattered was that they were here, together. Even as the reality of their situation sank back in and all their fears returned, they didn't let go.

"Marcy?", he said gently in her ear. "Yeah, Storm?" He frowned. "I'm really scared." She held him a little bit tighter at that. "I know. Me, too." They didn't need to say the next thing aloud. They both knew that despite being scared and uncertain of what lay ahead for them, they would get through anything life threw at them. Together.

Seconds later, the tranquility of their embrace was shattered by the door to his bedroom slamming open. "Hello, Queen Butterfly!", said the cook standing in the doorway, holding up a silver platter. "Dinner is served!" The two royal children glanced at her, then back at each other, their faces turning as red as Marcia's hoodie when they suddenly noticed the loving, more-than-friendly nature of their hug.

They immediately separated and shook hands, trying and failing to tone down the blush in their cheeks. "Great-Great talking!" "Thanks, friend!" "Just a talk, sis!" They then turned away from one another, praying to the Mewni goddess Celestia that the other did not notice their brightened, burning faces.

The awkwardness between them was so strong, even the cook could pick up on it. "Uh...okay. Well, we did what you said! We got creative!" She uncovered the platter to reveal a corn cob jiggling inside a dome of pinkish-purple jell-o. Storm stared at it blankly for a moment before offering her a strange half-smile. "Good first try." Lavabo poked his head in the doorway. "Can I go now?"

Marcia sighed. Even with their friendship, she and Storm still had these awkward moments. Moments where they briefly breached into more...affectionate territory, only to them pull away once they realized that their actions were a little too caring for a couple of teens who were supposed to be "just friends". Moments that were not helped by her strong love for him. He still didn't know, of course. He was still with Tammy. And Marcia didn't dare come between them by confessing her feelings.

But there was no time to focus on that. It was time for action. She just had to retrieve her Prince Turdo uniform.


	10. Divided

"Anyway, see you around." And with that, Glossaryck, who had been thought to be mind-muddled while in fact he had been perfectly aware the entire time, conquered up an umbrella and took off towards the darkened Mewni night skies, leaving behind a shocked and speechless Storm Dragonfly and Prince Marcia Turdo.

What a day it had been. Meteorite had made it to Dragonfly Castle, sucking the souls of all of Storm's most beloved friends and family members. Storm had tried to defeat him, but he proved to be too weak against the towering, all-powerful Meteorite Dragonfly, whose monster side combined with his newfound magical powers gave him a huge upper hand in battle.

Just when all hope seemed lost and it looked like the villain had won, Eclipse Dragonfly had swooped in not a moment too soon. Taking the wand from Storm, it changed to the jeweled staff it had been when the King of Darkness had owned it, and said King did what he knew needed to be done. Tuning out the cries of his heart, Eclipse vanquished his only child in magical combat, saving all of Mewni, but not his hopes for a happy future with his family.

Putting on hold the nursing of his broken heart, Eclipse offered Storm his wand back. Storm thought hard for a moment. Sure, he could take his wand back, but had it ever really been his to begin with? Eclipse and Meteorite were of the true Dragonfly royal blood. The magic wand and the throne of Mewni rightfully belonged to them and their descendants. And the Magical High Commission had stolen it all from them just because Eclipse had fallen in love with someone of whom they did not approve. It was all so unfair. And Storm saw the chance to make it right. Kneeling before Eclipse, he renounced the wand and his royal birthright, handing the Dragonfly crown back to the man who it was truly meant for.

No sooner had he finished his speech, a tiny wail had rung out from the pile of rags that had once clothed Meteorite. Imagine Eclipse's joy when he examined the pile and found his son, reborn as an infant, wrapped in the tatters and giggling innocently. Meteorite had been given a second chance at life, a chance to be who he had always been meant to be—a kind, benevolent future ruler, raised by his doting father who loved him for who he was rather than a cruel, literally heartless robot who expected nothing but "perfection" from him.

Thanking Storm with happy tears in his eyes, Eclipse had taken the wand and baby Meteorite and headed off to who-knew-where, to begin what Storm just knew would be a magnificent reign of Mewni, the start of a new era of peace between Monsters and Mewmans. Moments later, Glossaryck revealed, along with his conscious state, that the seemingly random word that he had been repeating for months while pretending to be loopy was actually the name of Eclipse's monster bride—Globgore.

Storm and Marcia stood side-by-side in the middle of the ruins of Dragonfly Castle, gaping at each other like fish as the events of the past day sunk in for them. Around them, their friends and the people of the kingdom slowly came out of their black-eyed, soulless state, regaining consciousness. As the two best friends finally fully processed what had just happened, a familiar voice echoed through the halls. "Luna!"

Marcia gasped as her father, King Solstice, came running into the throne room, horrified at the destroyed state of it. Scurrying close behind him was Lady Febe, looking distressed and rather undignified for once. Once they were finished taking in the wrecked state of the castle, they ran to Marcia. The King threw his arms around his daughter, hugging her securely as he shook. "Thank Celestia you're alright! I was worried sick about you!" Marcia stiffened at his touch. "How—How did you guys find me?!"

"Your mother went to check on your in your bedroom, and saw that you weren't there!", said Solstice, pulling away from her, his tone growing angry and dark. "We panicked and sent every knight and soldier we had to search for you, but they all ended up as black-eyed balloons! And then, hours later, we got a call from Princess Tamara Lucitor that you were with her, and she told us everything! Including how you were floating on a string with no soul in your body!"

All eyes fell upon Tammy, standing in the corner of the room, still wearing her fire amour. But she didn't look like a fierce warrior right now. She looked more like a nervous mouse that had been caught in the cupboard. She glanced at Marcia. "Wait...your dad didn't know you left?" Marcia flinched. With everything that had been going on, she had never thought to bring anyone else up to speed that she had not received permission to join the fight against Meteorite.

"How could you disobey me like this?!", Solstice shouted, his tan face taking on a slight shade of red. Marcia gulped. "But I didn't disobey you! You never told me I couldn't fight against Meteorite." "Because you never ASKED if you could!", the King roared at the top of his lungs. "Because I knew you'd say no!", she shot back. "What was I supposed to do?! Just sit back and do nothing while the kingdom was destroyed?!"

"YES!", was the collective, shocking answer that came from both King Solstice and Lady Febe. "A princess does NOT participate in any sort of fighting!", shrieked Febe. "She leaves such things to the knights of the land! That sort of behavior is unacceptable for a lady of royal breeding!" "What Lady Febe means to say, darling,", said Solstice, cupping Marcia's moon-marked cheeks. "Is that a princess does not put herself in such direct danger. You came very close to dying."

"Its okay now, Your Majesty!", Storm assured the Moon King. "The danger has passed! Eclipse saved the day!" Solstice looked back at Storm. "Eclipse?!" He glanced around the throne room. "Well? Where is he?" Storm felt a pit form in the bottom of his stomach. "Oh, um...he left." Solstice noticed his empty hands. "Where's your magic wand, boy?", he asked, raising an eyebrow suspiciously. Storm looked down at his shuffling feet, rapidly bumping two finger together. "I...gave it back to Eclipse...along with the kingship."

The room fell deadly silent. It was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop and echo off the wall. Marcia glanced up at her biological father, and gulped as she saw his handsome face twist into an ugly expression, turning redder than the rubies on his golden crown. "YOU WHAT?!", he bellowed. If he had been any more furious, smoke would have been steaming out of his ears.

"You handed rule of the land over to that...that...that TRAITOR?!" "I had to!", Storm protested. "It was the only way to set things right!" "Set things right?!", Solstice yelled, running his fingers through his thick dark locks. "How will renaming that monster-lover King set ANYTHING right?!" Storm glanced at Marcia, and she saw the look in his eye.

When you're best friends with somebody, when you've been through as much together as Storm and Marcia had, you somehow gained a sort-of psychic link with each other. You're able to predict what they're about to say or do before they even do it. You're able to tell what they're thinking with just a look. And that's exactly what Marcia did. "Storm, no, you don't have to—"

"No.", he cut her off. "I do. The people deserve the truth." He looked Solstice dead in the eye. "Your Majesty, I am not the true Dragonfly heir." Solstice's brow furrowed, as did the brows of several others gathered in the throne room. "What are you talking about?" Storm took a deep breath. It was now or never. He proceeded to tell the story in a calm yet serious tone of voice.

"Three hundred years ago, when they crystallized Eclipse, Queen Shastacana and the Magical High Commission decided they didn't want Meteorite to inherit the throne of Mewni. So they sent him to live far away with a robot, and replaced him with a peasant boy, telling everyone that he was the son of Eclipse and Shastacana. That peasant boy became the Dragonfly King Festivias the Fun, my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather. He and all the Dragonfly Kings that came after him were frauds. Including me."

If you had zapped him with a magic wand, Solstice could not have looked more shocked. All around him, whispers rose up among those gathered in the room in reaction to this new truth. Eyes fell upon the Magical High Commission members, waiting for them to jump up and say that what Storm said was not true, but not one of them spoke up and denied it. They simply stared at the ground, wearing guilty expressions.

Storm went on. "So, you see, Your Majesty, I am not the true King or Prince of Mewni. Eclipse and his son are. But the crown and the wand was unfairly taken from them. I only gave them back what was rightfully theirs." He bot his lip, awaiting the Moon King's reaction. Solstice was deathly quiet as this new truth sank in. At last, he spoke. "So...you and your ancestors have been lying to us for three hundred years?!"

Storm quickly shook his head. "No! No, we haven't! We didn't know, either! The Magical High Commission lied to us, too, telling us we were the real royal family! Just because they didn't want Eclipse and Meteorite on the throne!" "Well, from the looks of it, I'd say they had the right idea!", shouted Solstice. Storm sputtered a strong of random words for a moment before he openly glared at the King. "Wait, what?!"

"Open your eyes, boy!", shouted Solstice. "Eclipse renounced any right he had to the throne the very day he betrayed his own kind by running off with that hideous beast woman! If he had been left in charge of Mewni, he'd had driven it to ruin and tainted the great Dragonfly legacy! And you just undid everything that was done to protect the kingdom from him by giving him back the crown!" Some of the people changed in agreement with the Moon King.

"Eclipse did nothing wrong!", Storm shot back. "All he did was fall in love! You can't persecute him for that!" Solstice's face tightened. "Maybe not. But I CAN persecute him for breeding that....that unholy hybrid! Looks around you! That beast nearly burned Mewni to the ground! And your giving his father back his birthright means that villain will one day be King! Him! Meteorite! King of Mewni! Can you not see how you've doomed us all, boy?!"

"But, Father!", Marcia cried, cutting into their argument. "Meteorite was reborn by the magic that Eclipse used to defeat him! He'll grow up, and—" "And then we'll go through this whole thing over again!", Solstice cried, throwing his arms up in the air in exasperation. Marcia fiercely shook her head. "No, this time he'll be raised by the people he loves, and who loves him for how he is—"

"Which is a heartless, ruthless monster!", Solstice yelled. "Luna, how can you defend this boy's decision?! Can't you see how his choice has put us all in danger?! How he's risked everything our land holds dear?! How can I sleep at night, knowing that my only child is walking in a land where monsters rule from the supreme throne?! How can I, as your father, tolerate—" "Oh, give it a rest already!"

The Moon King looked up at the mouth who spoke those words, who had interrupted him, the mouth belonging to the now former Prince Dragonfly. "I beg your pardon?!", he spoke in a tone that was packed with lava-like heat yet at the same time was as cold as ice. Storm's normally glittering blue eyes were narrowed at the older man. "I'm really getting sick of your whole 'caring father' act around Marcia."

"I'm sorry, act?!", Solstice repeated, flabbergasted beyond any further words. Storm stomped up and stood mere inches from the older man, jabbing a finger towards him. "If you care so much about Marcia, why did you abandon her?! Why did you not raise her yourself?! You say you care about her, but all you do is try to control her. You rarely let her leave the castle, and when you do, you make her come with a babysitter."

"You have everyone plan how she's going to spend her time, and yet you barely make time to bond with her. You decide how she's going to live and what she'll do and wear, but you never let her decide anything for herself. You say you love her, but you treat her like a puppet. Well, Marcia is not a puppet! She's a person, with real feelings and hopes and desires! And those are things you don't bother to acknowledge. So stop pretending that you actually care about her, because I know you don't."

Solstice once again fell silent, the anger slowly filling his soul. No one had ever spoke to him in such a manner before , let alone a false teenage prince. Yet, said fake prince showed no regrets about what he had just said. He stood firm by his words, just like he stood firm before the King, the determined look on his face never faltering, never looking away for even a second.

Marcia, on the other hand, and everyone else cowered back a bit, waiting for King Solstice to explode with the force of a thousand volcanos at the bolted-cheeked boy for daring to stand up to him like that. They waited, but it never happened. Instead, the King pointed a trembling finger a mere inch from Storm's pale nose and spoke in a tone that was calm and level, but at the same time was dripping with white-hot rage.

"You...You are certainly one to talk. You speak of being a better prince and a better man, but you are still the same careless, irresponsible child that was sent away from Mewni a year ago! You leave a trail of destruction in your wake, and you expect everybody else to clean up your mess for you! You think you know everything and you know nothing! Well, I'm not going to let you and your reckless, ill-minded ways influence my daughter a moment longer!"

He spun around to face Marcia, who was shaking at the force of her father's words and the way he stared at Storm and her, with fire burning bright in his brown eyes, while hers was glistening with fear. "Luna!", he shouted sharply, still pointing towards Storm. "You are never to see this boy again! I forbid it!"

Gasps rose up from all around the room, the loudest ones coming from Storm and Marcia. "What?! No!", she cried, unable to believe what was happening. "No, you can't do that!" "I can, and I have!", Solstice said loudly. "Now go to the carriage! We're going home!" Marcia shook her head. "No! No, I'm not going!" She ran towards Storm, reaching her arms out to embrace him, only to have her father step in and snatch her up in his arms.

He handed her off to Lady Febe, commanding her, "Take Luna to the coach. We are leaving!" "Yes, Your Majesty.", the governess complied, taking her young ward securely in her arms. "Come along, Princess." Marcia squirmed in her arms as Febe carried her off towards the exit. "Let me go!", she pleaded, her eyes growing wet. "Let me go! Storm!" She reached out for him, choking back a sob.

"Marcia!" He ran to free her, but was ripped away by Solstice grabbing his arms and squeezing with all his might, bruising the boy. "For the final time, her name is Luna Moon!", he barked, some spit spraying on Storm's pale face, which finally looked scared of the King. "And from now on, if you know what's good for you, boy, you'll stay away from her! And if I catch you anywhere near our castle, I will not hesitate to sic the guards on you! And who knows what they'll do to you now that its out that you're nothing but a fraud?"

And with that, he threw Storm a few feet away like a rag doll before storming off in a hurry after Febe and Marcia. Tammy, Kelly, and Rivera immediately ran to his side to tend to his aid. "Are you okay?" "Are you hurt?" Storm sat up with a groan, the reality of the situation sinking back in seconds later. "Wait!" Scrambling back up to his feet, he ran after Solstice and Marcia as fast as his feet could carry him.

The King arrived outside to see Lady Febe trying to shove Marcia into the backseat of the family coach. The poor girl was resisting heavily, flailing her arms and legs around and pushing back against her governess's hold on her. "No! Let me go! You can't do this! Let me go!" Stomping over, he added a pair of hands, his own, to force his daughter completely inside the carriage.

Marcia stumbled into the corner as the door slammed shut before her very eyes. Crawling to the other side, she tried to push it open, but Solstice leaned against the side of the carriage, shifting all of his weight to hold the door shut. Bursting into tears, Marcia banged her fists against the door as she heard the click of the lock. "Let me out! Please, let me out! You can't take me away!"

As Solstice and Febe climbed into the front seat, a loud voice turned their attention towards the doorway. Theur lips curled into identical sneers when they saw the former Prince Dragonfly skid around the corner and dash towards them. This boy just did not know when to quit. Solstice jumped into the carriage quickly and shut the door. "Drive."

The driver whipped the reins hard, and the warnicorns went galloping down the stone path. Marcia sat on her knees in the backseat and looked out the back window to see Storm running after them, his arm outstretched for her. She pressed her face to the glass, wanting to badly for it to evaporate so she could leap out and run to him. But no matter how hard she wished, the glass stayed.

Storm panted as he continued to run. His lungs were on fire, his lower body was losing all feeling, but he ignored all that as he reached out his arm for her. "Marcia!" He tried to catch up, but the warnicorns were too strong and fast. Finally, his legs gave out, and he stumbled forward and landed on the hard dirt ground on his stomach, scraping one of his knees and ruining his clothes further in the process.

He rose to his knees and stared, helpless, at the carriage retreating further and further down the road to the Moon Kingdom. There was no way he could catch up now. Not without his magic. Tears welled up in his eyes as he reached out towards the coach as it drove away, taking with it the thing he treasured most in this or any other world. "Marcy..."

Marcia could not take it anymore as she watched her best friend, the secret love of her life, become nothing more than a speck in the distance. Savoring one final glance at him, she curled up into a ball in the backseat of the carriage and bawled her eyes out as she was carried back to the kingdom of her birth.


	11. Broken

Rivera led the young heroes up where Storm had gone, to the outside of Dragonfly Castle, to find her son on his knees on the dirt road, looking after the royal Moon family carriage as it rode off out of sight. One of his knees was skinned, as was an elbow, and the clothes that had been tainted in his recent battle with Meteorite looked even worse for wear.

They ran to his side, gasping softly when they saw the tears streaming down his face, leaving tracks in the dirt. His blue eyes stared for a thousand miles inti the distance where the coach had been just a few moment ago. He looked as if he had had something taken from him, something precious, something he loved more than anything. That was because he had.

"Storm?", Tammy said gently, touching his shoulder tenderly. "Are you okay?" Ponyhead scowled deeply at her. "Girl, did you not see what just happened, like, five minutes ago?!" Tammy flinched at the harsh tone of his voice, because she knew it was justified. She hated this. She hated feeling so helpless. She was Storm's girlfriend, she should have been able to offer him comfort in his hour of need, but nothing she could say or do could ever heal this wound of his that King Solstice had just created.

Storm shook his head, slightly at first, then with more force as each second past. "That's it.", he said softly, still in a trance. "That's it, I...I've lost everything. First Dad, then my magic, then my kingdom and my legacy, and...and now...I've lost the most important person in my whole entire life."

Tammy felt her heart break a bit at that. She knew that Storm and Marcia were close, but she wanted to be the most important person in his life, not Marcia. But it seemed that no matter how hard she tried, he always seemed to be putting Marcia first. If he had a problem to solve, he went to Marcia for advice, not Tammy. If he was feeling sad or dejected, he sought comfort in Marcia, not Tammy.

His hopes, his dreams, his grand plans, most of his missions and adventures, he shared those with Marcia, not Tammy. It made the demon princess wonder...if there ever came a time when Storm had to decide between Marcia and Tammy, which one of them would he choose?

In that moment, Tammy comforted him, while trying to make sense of the hurricane of emotions and doubt swirling in her heart.  
\------------  
Queen Diana was putting the final stitches on her sampler when the doors to the throne room burst open. She looked up to see her husband, their daughter, and their daughter's governess enter. The King and Febe were each holding one of Luna's arms as she struggled against their grasp. Diana was horrified to see that not only was the child covered in grime and filth from head to toe, but she was dressed like a boy.

Practically jumping off her throne, Diana hurried to her child and took her in her arms, examining every scrape and bit of dirt that covered her. "What in the name of the heavenly moon happened to you?!" Solstice burned silently as he explaining, his voice under-toned with rage. "Luna deliberately disobeyed my wishes and ran off to fight Meteorite with her bare hands!"

"No, I didn't!", cried Marcia, prying her mother's hands off her face. "I had swords! And help from my friends!" "Yeah, some help!", Solstice snapped back. He looked back at his wife. "That sorry excuse of a prince out her up to it!" "No!", exclaimed Marcia, growing angry. "You're wrong! Storm didn't put me up to anything! I chose to do it!"

Solstice ignored her. "And to prove how useless he is, he gave the Dragonfly throne to Eclipse the monster lover and his monster spawn!" If a demon from the Underworld had come to collect her immortal soul, Diana could not have looked more horrified. "How could he?!" "He had to!", Marcia cut in, tired of her words being overlooked. "The throne was taken from Eclipse unfairly!"

Solstice rolled his eyes. "Yes! That's the icing on the cake! Turns out, that boy isn't descended from Dragonfly royalty after all! He's the descendant of a peasant boy that the Magic High Commission stole and claimed to be the son of Eclipse and his Mewman Queen! The Commission has been lying to the Dragonfly family and all of Mewni for generations! Its an OUTRAGE!"

"That doesn't mean you can ban me from seeing Storm!", Marcia yelled, on the verge of tears. "I had no choice!", Solstice boomed back. "That boy is a bad influence on you! Its too dangerous for you to be around him! So from now on, you are to have no further contact with that scoundrel! And that is final!"

He took a deep breath as he calmed down, unlike his teenage daughter, whose anger was growing and growing, boiling up inside of her. "Now, be a good girl and slip into something more suitable for a lady of breeding." A maid appeared at Marcia's side, holding out a gown of lilac trimmed with pink ribbon rosettes and fancy ruffled lace. Marcia stared at the dress for the longest time, before she looked back up at Solstice, her tanned face tinted red, and her brown eyes filled with tears. But not tears of joy.

"I hate you."

That caught the King completely off-guard, and he whipped his head around to stare at his daughter with an expression that looked as if he had been stabbed in the back. Diana gasped, her pale, delicate hands flying to cover her mouth and try to hide the shock from what she had just heard. "What did you say?", asked Solstice, the tone of his voice one of pure surprise, unsure on what to feel at that moment.

"I said, I hate you!", Marcia screamed, stomping her foot. She looked back at the stunned maid and ripped the gown from her arms, tossing it to the floor like a dirty rag. "I hate these clothes! I hate this castle! I hate this whole entire kingdom! I never wanted any of this! I never asked for any of this! Storm was right! You don't care about me! All you want to do is control me!"

"That is not true!", Solstice shot back, looking hurt and angry at the same time. "I do care about you, Luna!" She looked up at him with tears leaking from her eyes, her eyes fixed with a look that could shoot daggers. "If you care about me so much, why did you give me up?! Why did you abandon me?! Then, the second I come back, you want to take me back as if nothing happened?! As if you didn't throw me away like I was some piece of garbage?!"

"Don't say it's 'cause you love me, because I know it's not! You only took me back because you didn't want to look like a bad person who abandons their child to your subjects and the other kingdoms! I bet you wish I never saw you again! And you know what?! I wish that, too! I was perfectly happy until you came along and took me away from everything I loved! All you ever do is push me and push me to be who you want to be, not who I want to be! So, yeah—I hate you!"

The King went into full anger mode. "How DARE you speak to me in such a tone, young princess! I am your father!" If looks could kill, Solstice would have been dead a thousand times over from the icy, nasty glare from his daughter, her eyes narrowed, her lips pressed firmly together, every muscle in her face throbbing from over-exhaustion. "Just because you bred me, that doesn't make you my father."

Solstice reared back, as if he'd been slapped in the face. Of course, to him, such a remark was worse that a slap to the face. "That's it! Go to your room!" He pointed a shaking finger down the hall. Marcia didn't say a word. She merely gave the King one last dirty look and went running down the hallways, sobbing into her hands.

Solstice stomped over to the head of the room and collapsed onto his golden throne, slouched over towards his knees and rubbing his temples with the tips of his fingers. Diana slowly walked over and sat in her own throne beside him as Lady Febe and the maid swiftly exited to give their rulers some privacy. She placed a loving, tender hand on her husband's back. "Are you certain you were not too hard on her?"

Solstice glanced up at his Queen at that. "Too hard on her? How was I too hard?" "You know how much that Storm boy means to Luna.", explained Diana, in a tone that did not at all undermine the logic of his decision. "He's her best friend." "Like I said, he's a bad influence.", said Solstice, sitting to an upright position. "He's always getting her into trouble, coercing her to dress in boy's clothes and fight monsters in the wild."

He stroked his beard, deep in thought. "Luna needs to be with someone responsible, someone who can keep her safe and sound, someone who can measure up to the sophistication and civility of the court. A true gentlemen of breeding and real royal blood." He sat on his throne deep in complementation for a few more moments before he cried out, "Lady Febe! Come forth!"

Said gray-haired court lady came running (at a quick yet ladylike pace) to answer her lord's call. "Yes, Your Excellency?" A hint of a smile crossed Solstice's face. "Didn't you mention once at teatime that the King of the Laurus Kingdom is searching for a bride for his son?"


	12. Thoughts

Marcia lay sprawled out her bed, her face buried in her pillow as it became wet with her tears. She hadn't cried this much since she had been removed from Dragonfly Castle and her happy position as Storm's squire to live with her biological parents in their palace as the Moon Princess. To live a life that she never wanted to lead. A life that was in no way hers.

Marcia didn't know what to do. She had no means of escaping. Lady Febe had confiscated her dimensional scissors soon after they left Dragonfly Castle. They had left no stone left unturned, making sure she stayed locked up, away from the world.

She felt trapped. Trapped in a cold, hollow prison with no light and no freedom to decide what to do, what to wear, or who to love. Forced into a role that did not suit her, the role of a perfect little princess who felt comfortable wearing elegant gowns and always acted like a proper royal lady. She had to pretend everyday to be someone she wasn't, surrounded by people who only cared to change her into what they thought she had be.

And now, the final nail on the coffin. The one person who actually cared about her happiness, who accepted her for who she was, who actually made her feel like she could take a breath...and he had been taken from her as well. And now, without him, she had nothing left. Nothing but a broken heart and two eyes full of tears.

With nothing left to do, Marcia curled into a fetal position on her bed and cried herself to sleep that awful, lonely night, unaware of the glowing red eyes that blinked at her through the window.  
\----------------  
Storm stared up at the starry Mewni night sky, exposed by the lack of roof in the castle, feeling lost and alone. All around him, people were crawling under blankets and into sleeping bags, grumbling over having to sleep on the cold stone ground instead of in the beds that had been obliterated by Meteorite. Most of those grumbles were directed towards Storm. But he did not hear a word from them. All he could think about was Marcia.

Tammy set up her sleeping bag next to him. She knew it wasn't very nice, but deep down, a small part of her was sort of glad that he and Marcia had been separated. Perhaps with her gone, he would pay Tammy, his actual girlfriend, more attention than he had before. This might be just what they needed to strengthen their relationship.

Tammy set up her sleeping bag next to him. "Hey." He did not respond to her. He just kept laying there, kept staring at the sky. She slipped into her sleeping bag, and tried again. "Hey." Still no reply. She leaned in, so that her face was mere centimeters from his. "I said, hey."

That seemed to snap him out of it. He finally looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Oh, hey." Tammy expected, or rather hoped, that a conversation would follow, but he just looked back up at the sky and didn't say another word. She sighed heavily. She knew what had him acting this way. "Still thinking about Marcia?"

He did not answer her question directly. "You know, Marcia and I used to love looking at the stars together.", he said, his blue eyes never leaving the starry sky above. "We used to climb onto the roof through my bedroom window, and sit there for hours until we got tired and had to go back inside to go to bed. Even after she came to Mewni, we kept the tradition alive. We would climb onto the castle roof and stare up at the night sky for hours." He shook his head. "What I wouldn't give to look at the stars with her one last time."

Then, his face darkened as angry thoughts crossed his mind. "How could he do this?", he thought aloud. "How could he just keep us apart like that? I don't care if he's the King or her father! He has no right to take Marcia away after he abandoned her as a baby, then tell her what to do with her life." He rolled over and sighed. "Well, goodnight, I guess."

Tammy's heart sank. He still had the hoodie-wearing, nacho-making, karate-chopping brunette girl on the brain. She knew it wasn't very nice, especially since Marcia and her were friends, but deep down, a small part of her was sort of glad that Storm and Marcia had been separated. Perhaps with her gone, he would pay Tammy, his actual girlfriend, more attention than he had before. This might be just what they needed to strengthen their relationship.

And so, she lay down in her sleeping bag, trying to push her guilty thoughts and feelings deep down inside of her.

Meanwhile, Storm's mind could not rest. It was working at top speed. Why did Solstice and Diana abandon Marcia as a baby? Why had they left her on the Diazes' doorstep in the first place. Storm was more determined than ever to seek out the truth about the co-rulers of the Moon Kingdom.  
——————————  
A loud flap of feathered wings came into her ear. A figure, hidden by shadows and darkness, turned her head to look at the raven flying through her window. She extended her hand and allowed the bird to perch on her fingers, staring at it's mistress with glowing red eyes.

It turned it's ugly black beak towards her ear and muttered hoarsely into it. Her eyes lit up ghastly violet, piercing through the darkness. Her free arm lifted up, and an orb appeared in the palm of her hand. In it was the perfect image of a girl, with brown hair and tan skin, a mole under her right eye, wiping tears from her face.

"The Princess has returned home..."


	13. Breaking Point

The sun rose the next morning, streaming light into Marcia's pink bedroom, not at all matching the mood she was in. She squinted in the sunlight for a second or two, before she rolled over away from the window with a low growl and pulled the covers over her body to block the rays of the sun.

"No slacking!", a sharp voice cut through the air, earning a groan from Marcia. Just the person she wanted to deal with right now. "I'm not the mood today, Febe.", she moaned, taking her pillow and pushing it over her head. The governess snatched the pillow and tossed it to the corner of the room without a care for whatever "mood" the princess was in at the moment. "No slacking! You have a tight schedule! Your next birthday in only a few weeks, and we have much work to do if you're prepared by then!"

She grabbed Marcia by the wrists and dragged her out of bed against her will. "Now, to wash, groom, and dress!" Giving in to the inevitable, Marcia just stood there as her governess and maids undressed her out of the wrinkled Prince Turdo uniform she had worn to bed instead of putting on her nightgown.  
\-------------  
Marcia sat at the dinner table, the upright ladylike position a strain on her worn and tired body. It had been a full day of princess lessons, made even more hectic by the gown fittings and beauty treatments Lady Febe had lined up in preparation for the princess's upcoming birthday debut. Her eyebrows were still sore from all the plucking the beauticians had done.

Queen Diana sat across from her, in the same regal upright position, not showing the least bit of discomfort. Of course, she had a lifetime's worth experience in this position, in this world, while Marcia had less than a year. It was easier for her to maintain the queenly mask, posture and appearance. Right now, they were awaiting the arrival of King Solstice to begin their supper.

This puzzled Marcia slightly. Usually she was the last to show up for dinner, and the King and Queen were the ones sitting at the table waiting for her. In all her moths living with them, Solstice had never once been tardy to the table. She wondered what could have held him up for so long. Then again, after Meteorite's rampage, there was a lot to do before things on Mewni could return to normal.

A half hour had passed after the due time for supper. At last, the King appeared, wearing a grin from ear to ear, a little kick in his step. He approached the dinner table and kissed his wife on the cheek. He tried to do the same to Marcia, but she ducked her face put of his aim. Getting the message, Solstice seated himself in his usual chair at the head of the table, and dinner was served.

As the royal family were close to cleaning off their plates, Solstice cleared his throat, catching the attention of the Queen and the Princess. "Luna, I have some exciting news for you." Marcia looked at him with a skeptical eye. "You're letting me go back to my old life and forget you ever existed?" The King frowned at that. "No." "Than I'm not interested.", she said flatly, turning back to her plate.

"Oh, but you will be interested!", said the King, smiling. "You see, darling, I realized, I'm not going to be around forever to protect you." "I should be so lucky.", she muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes before taking a bite of chicken. Solstice pretended that he didn't hear that and continued. "I thought, you're going to need someone to look after you after I'm gone. Someone strong, someone brave, a man who'll keep you safe from any dangers, and treat you like a lady."

He smiled a little wider, expecting Marcia to look intrigued and curious, but she simply stared straight ahead and continued to chew her food with no signs of interest. Solstice decided to go on. "That is why I talked to the King of the Laurus Kingdom..." He paused for effect. "And arranged for you to marry his son, the Prince."

Now that caught Marcia's attention. But not in the way Solstice had expected, or even hoped. She choked on the piece of chicken that she had been in the middle of chewing, and one of the servants had to slap her on the back to keep her from dying. She jumped out of her chair and stared at the King with an expression that looked like she had been attacked by a wild beast. "You did WHAT?!"

"Its a fine match!", cried Solstice, obviously not picking up on his daughter's unhappiness. "You get a good man, and the kingdom gets a King!" Marcia shook her head, unable to believe what was happening to her. "But I've never even met this guy before!", she exclaimed. "What if I don't like him? What if he doesn't like me? What if we hate each other?"

Solstice's face scrunched up at that. "You say that as if it matters." Marcia was taken aback at that. "So, my happiness doesn't matter? You would make me marry a man I don't love?" Solstice stared up at her with wide eyes. "Love? And just what does that have to do with marriage? Darling, we're royalty. We marry to secure alliances, to strengthen our nations, to prevent wars and keep the peace between our lands. Only commoners marry for love."

"But—" Solstice swiftly rose to his feet and silenced her with a wagging finger. "No buts! You need someone who can take care of you." "I can take care of myself!", Marcia insisted. Solstice looked at her skeptically at that statement. "Oh, really? Like how took such good care of yourself by sneaking out of the castle and throwing yourself right into Meteorite's danger zone?"

Marcia's mouth hung open at that. "How dare you—" He cut her off. "No more! It has already been settled! You will meet your future husband at your debut ball. And that is the final word." He looked down at his daughter, and his stern expression melted away when he saw that she looked as if she might cry again.

"First, you rip me away from the life I was happy with, then you separate me from my best friend, and now, you're going to force me to marry a total stranger?" The tears pooled in her eyes. "How much more can you take away from me until you're satisfied?" She slammed her fork onto the table with a clang! and went running off, her high-heeled slippers flying off her feet and landing deserted in the hallway.  
\---------------  
"Yes! Yes, I remember!" The former King Mars laughed alongside his wife and the new Dragonfly King, Eclipse. Storm smiled slightly. After many twists and turns on the journey, he, Tammy and Rivera had finally located Mars, living without memory in the village of the Pie Folk, a violent race of people obsessed with making pies. Luckily, Storm had been able to revive his father's memory with the song of pie-making that Mars's own late father, King Comet the Chef, had taught him as a boy, and that Mars had taught his own son while he was little.

He happily returned with his family to the Dragonfly Kingdom, and come to the Temple of Monsters, which Eclipse had declared was the new home of the royal family. The newly restored Dragonfly King lived there happily with his infant son, Meteorite, and his crystallized monster wife, Globgore. So far, the visit was going well.

There was just one thing that was missing. Storm's heart ached at the thought, and he glanced down at his food glumly. Mars immediately noticed his son's shift in mood, and asked what was wrong. "Nothing.", the former prince replied, picking at his food. "Its just...I wish Marcia was here."

There was a hissing growl coming from a few feet away, and all heads turned to the playpen of bones that housed Meteorite. His sweet baby face was twisted into an ugly expression, his pointed teeth bared and his eyes narrowed as he snarled at the others, reminding them more of the grown-up Meteorite that had attacked the kingdom just a few weeks before.

"Oh, dear.", Eclipse said, chuckling nervously. "I'm afraid that name stills strikes a nerve with him." "Are you sure he doesn't remember her?", asked Storm. "Her" being the girl who masqueraded as a prince, under-minded his authority as headmaster of St. Oleg's Reform School for Wayward Princelings, inspired a revolution to overthrow him and cast him out of the school that he had built, and destroyed his legacy as a "fixer" of unusual princes.

"I'm not so certain anymore...", Eclipse trailed off. Storm looked back at his half-finished plate. "Well, I can't forget her. In fact, I can't get her out of my head. I just miss her so much. She's everything to me." Tammy was sitting next to him the entire time he spoke of Marcia, a mixture of sadness and fondness in his voice. And at that last sentence, something inside of her snapped.

Hiding the burning rage that was threatening to burst forth, she placed her fork on the table calmly and stood up from her chair. "Storm...we need to talk." He looked puzzled, but he got up, too, and followed her away from the dinner table and into a secluded hallway. "What's this about? Are you sure this can't wait until—" Once they were alone, Tammy spun around and said it right out, like ripping off a bandaid. "I'm breaking up with you."

That rendered him speechless. "Wh-What? Why?" She blinked away the tears in her three eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore.", she sniffled. "I can't go on dating a boy who's obviously in love with someone else." "What?!", Storm yelled, forgetting that they were just a few feet away from everybody. Tammy sighed. It was the hardest thing to accept, but they both had to face the truth. "Look, Storm, you may not want to admit it, but I can see it clear as day. You never really got over your feelings for Marcia, did you?"

"Tammy, you're talking crazy!", he said. She stared at him. "That didn't answer my question." Storm ran his fingers through his flaxen blond locks. "Tammy, I took you back after your Demonism! Would I have done that if I wasn't over Marcia?" She quirked a brow. "Would you, if you'd known that she returned your feelings?" His silence told her all she needed to know.

"You know, I know its selfish, and kinda mean, but when Marcia was taken away, I was...a little bit happy!", she cried, laughing a bit at the cruelty of her situation. "I thought that maybe, just maybe, I'd get to be first in your life for once. But even when she's gone, you put her before me. You put mourning her absence over me."

"These past few weeks without her, you've been going on and on about how much you miss her, how much you want her back, how she means the world to you! Well, what about me, Storm? I'm your girlfriend! You've never once said any of those things about me! I'm the one you're supposed to be committed to, and yet I have to fight and struggle to get even a fraction of what you give Marcia freely! Let's face it—no matter how hard I try, no matter how much I give, I'll always be second in your life next to HER!"

The demon tears of boiling lava were spilling from her eye trio and down her pale cheeks. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this anymore. I need to be with a boy that puts me first, at least every once in a while." Storm just stood there, taking it all in, thinking over every word that she just said. Finally, after an eternity between them, he spoke. "Tammy...you're right."

He started crying, too. "You're right. I do still love Marcia. I always have. But after what hapoened with her and Jackson, I was so scared of getting hurt again, I kept trying to push my feelings for away. At first, it was just to keep myself out of the range of pain that was brought on my unrequited feelings. But after she came back...it was more about you."

She gasped softly as he took a step forward and tenderly cupped her face. "Tammy...you did so much for me. You adored me, and you were trying so hard, and you helped me heal my broken heart. I couldn't just ditch you for Marcia. I couldn't do that to you. So I stayed and tried to make it work for you. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, Tammy."

Tammy wiped her tears and allowed herself a small smile. "Well...while I appreciate you trying to spare me...you probably could have saved all three of us some more pain and time if you had just left me sooner. I would rather be alone than waste my time with a boy who loves another girl." Storm nodded solemnly. "I know. I guess it never occurred to me that I could be hurting you by staying when my heart's not in it. I'm sorry I held you back, Tammy."

She smirked at her, her good-natured cockiness resurfacing, much to his relief. "Its okay. Still pals?" She held out a clawed hand, which he gladly accepted and shook vigorously. "Still pals." Tammy straightened herself up and grinned widely, showing off her pointed teeth. "Now that that's taken care of, all that's left to do is get you your princess!"

Storm's slight cheeriness faded away quickly. "And just how are we going to do that? Remember what King Jerkbutt said? I can't go near his kingdom, else his guards will skewer me!" Tammy's mood fell swiftly at that reminder. "Oh, yeah." Storm frowned as he crossed his arms. "Just who does he think he is? He controls Marcia like a doll, and then he has the guts to say I don't care about her! And he does? If he cared about her so much, why did he throw her away?"

"Its not like that." Tammy and Storm jumped and screamed in fright at Mars, who had appeared behind them from out of nowhere like a ghost with no warning. "King Solstice had to give her away.", said the ex-Dragonfly King. "He had no choice." Tammy looked concerned and puzzled at him. "What are you talking about?" Storm's eyes grew wide with realization. "Dad...do you know something?"

Rivera stood by her husband's side, looking worried. "Darling...are you sure?" Mars nodded firmly. "Yes...its time they knew the truth."


	14. Sins of the Past

"Why are you having me do this again?", asked Eclipse as he poured lines of magic dust in the shape of ancient magic symbols on the floor for the upcoming spell. "Because, why tell them, when we can show them?", asked Rivera, making sure her son and his now ex-girlfriend were standing in the right places among the arrangements.

When everything was in place, Mars faced his son. "Are you ready to know?" Storm was scared of this new, unfamilar spell and what it might do, but he nodded anyway. "I'm ready." "So am I.", said Tammy. Mars looked at Eclipse and gave him a curt nod to proceed. Gripping the jeweled can that was his wand in his gloved hand, Eclipse held the bottom and lowered the orb to the floor to touch the magical dust. He closed his eyes, focused hard, and chanted,

"Turn back the hands of time gone past,  
Time of good deeds and of sin;  
Show us what has already happened,  
Show us what has already been."

As he spoke, the crimson-colored spades on his cheeks lit up a bright red. Upon his words, the orb on his cane glowed an electric purple, and the magic from it electrocuted the dust, sending a sensation of vibrant colors running up the lines until every last speck of it was engulfed in a rainbow light. As soon as the last but of magic dust had been enchanted, Storm and Tammy were blinded by whiteness all around them.

When the whiteness faded, they were standing in a throne room of some sort. It was crowded with people wearing extravagant clothing of various hues and fine materials such as silk,satin and velvet. They all looked excited to be there, chattering among themselves like birds in the springtime. Storm looked at their surroundings and recognized the setting right away. "We're in the Moon Palace!"

"Look!" Tammy pointed to the thrones at the head of the room, and there sat King Solstice and Queen Diana, years younger. Storm and Tammy walked towards them to get a closer look, and stopped. There, squirming happily in the Queen's arms, clothed in a long ivory satin dress and bonnet trimmed with lace, was a baby girl with tan skin, dark brown curls, and a tiny mole under her right eye.

Solstice gently took the baby from his wife and cradled her close. Storm saw the love and tenderness in his eyes as he looked down upon his newborn daughter. He wiped a tear of joy from his eye and kissed her on the forehead, earning a happy wail from her. Storm had never seen such affection towards a person, let along from Solstice towards Marcia in the present.

Diana took back their child and placed her in the cradle, a sturdy wooden one with pink tulle drapes and a golden crown on the top, as her husband addressed the people. "Citizens of the Moon Kingdom, Kings and Queens of Mewni, my wife and I are overjoyed that you could be here to celebrate this happy occasion, the birth of Princess Luna Moon!" Everyone cheered.

"Look! Its you and me!" Storm looked where Tammy was pointing again, to see their respective parents standing side-by-side. Both Queen Rivera and Queen Wrathimlor Lucitor were heavily pregnant with their own firstborn children and heirs, and both were excited to celebrate one of their peers giving birth to theirs.

Suddenly, a beam of light came from overhead, and with it, three specks of light, one red, one blue, and one yellow. King Solstice and Queen Diana looked excited upon seeing the specks as they grew bigger and bigger. "Presenting, the Ladies of Felicity, the three good fairies!", Solstice declared, gesturing towards the specks as they lowered onto the floor. As he announced them one by one, each speck turned into a woman!

"Mistress Fountanne!" The pink speck became a middle-aged lady, clothed in a gown of prettiest pink, decorated with images of flowers and butterflies on the skirt, her own long brown braided hair woven with bright sprigs of lavender, roses and other flowers found in the springtime. She wore a smile as warm as the summer sun as she curtsied to the King and Queen.

"Mistress Marina!" The blue speck turned into a younger woman wearing a gown as blue and flowing as the ocean. Her dark black hair flowed freely around her body in soft beachy waves, sparkling like the sea, with a crown of oyster pearls and seashells resting at the top of her head. Her smile was coy and mysterious as she curtsied to the two rulers of the Moon Kingdom.

"And Mistress Celestia!" Last, but not least, the yellow speck transformed into a young girl, no more than eighteen or nineteen, dressed in a yellow gown as golden as the sun, hints of it glistening as she moved. The color of her blond hair matched the hue of her gown perfect, just like the gold spikes coming from the bun she wore. She smiled nervously up at Solstice and Diana before taking her place among her sisters.

Looking pleased, the Queen addressed the palace guests further. "As tradition, the three fairies will bestow gifts of virtue among the newborn princess, assuring that she will grow to be a great ruler." Storm blinked. He remembered such a thing. He knew what this celebration was, and he knew Tammy knew as well.

It was Mewni tradition for Kings and Queens to throw royal christenings when they had their heirs, and invite the three good fairies to bless the newborns with magical gifts of virtue to guarantee they grew up to be good people and even better monarchs of their respective kingdoms. His parents had told him that he had gotten courage, intuition, and determination. Tammy had gotten passion, allure, and wits.

Storm and Tammy watched with bated breath as Mistress Fountanne approached the cradle with baby Marcia. "Little princess, I bless you with the gift of heart. Not only will it be kind, but it be be chock full of bravery and sheer grit, so that you will not surrender when things get too hard." Everyone clapped as she sprinkled fairy dust upon the baby. The dust fell upon her nose and she sneezed adorably.

Mistress Marina stepped forward. "Lovely princess,", she said, leaning towards the infant. "I bless you with the gift of intelligence. You will be smart as a whip, bright as a penny, seeking knowledge and answers to any questions you may have, and nothing will stop you from going out to find it." Another round of applause sounded as Storm smiled. These were indeed all traits in Marcia, traits he and so many other admired. Finally, Mistress Celestia stepped forward to give her gift. "Sweet princess, I bless you with the gift of—"

All of the sudden, there was a bright flash of green lighting, accompanied by a great clap of thunder, cutting off the last fairy. The doors flew open, clattering loudly. Gusts of winds blew all throughout the throne room, shaking the lovely curtains of satin and silk. The guests all clustered together in groups, clinging to those they knew and loved as they screamed and cried out in fright. Storm and Tammy looked at each other and gulped. This was not part of the christening ceremony, they knew that much.

In all the commotion, a swirl of sickly green mist rise from the throne room floors, growing taller as it slowly took shape of a tall, lean woman. The mist faded, and facial features took it's place, until, rather than the mist, in the center of the throne room stood a woman with pale green skin, lips as black as death, cold, icy purple eyes, and twisted black horns coming from her head in the place of hair.

Storm immediately cowered at the sight. He had seen her before, in the illustrations of storybooks of Mewni's most famous and infamous legends, of horror stories that had lasted hundreds of years, stories that he had always thought—or at last, hoped—to be nothing more than myth meant to frighten children away from the woods at night. "It can't be..." "But it is.", said Tammy, all three of her eyes wide, her voice barely above a whisper. "Its...Ravena."

Storm shook his head. "I thought she wasn't real...", he said, his voice and body shaking. "I thought someone made her up to scare little kids or something." Ravena, the evil Sorceress of Mewni, was known throughout the land. Legend said she was once like the other fairies, playing and protecting the Forest of Certain Death, the woods that she called home. But after Mewmans took over, they started to attack the Forest and all who lived in it. After that, Ravena turned wicked, vowing death to anyone who tried to harm her beloved woods and subjects.

Ravena's hard, icy stare fell upon King Solstice, who glared at her deadly, his lips curled into a sneer. "Your Majesty.", said Ravena, in a tone that was calm and civil, however, that made it all the more terrifying. "Its been a long time." "Not long enough.", growled the King. "You are not welcome here. Leave at once!" He pointed towards the exit, but she did not so much as look in the direction of his finger, her glowing violet stare never leaving him.

She merely chuckled at his stern tone. He wasn't getting rid of her that easy. "Come now, Solstice.", she said. "It takes more than a King's order to get me to do the bidding of another." Her hand extended gracefully to her side, and a three-eyed raven flew over and perched itself on her fingers. Pulling her pet towards her, she used her free hand to stroke it's smooth black feathers. "I mean, you, of all people, should know that by now. Don't you? When we were mere children, and we frolicked together in the fields, laughing and singing and holding hands. You know...before you betrayed me to your predecessor and shattered my heart." Her voice was venomous as she spoke that last part.

Solstice's face was as hard as stone as he replied to her. "I did what had to be done. You are an evil witch! You tried to kill my then-future father-in-law, just because he killed a couple of worthless slimy monsters that stole food from his palace. You had to be stopped." Ravena merely blinked at him. "I see...and you were rewarded. The King married you to his daughter and made you his heir. You became King. And now...you have a lovely new daughter."

Ravena took slow, steady steps towards the cradle where baby Marcia babbled and gurgled. "Stop!", Solstice barked, his voice slicing through the air like a knife. "Don't take another closer to her!" At first, Ravena seemed to be obedient, stopping in her tracks, staring ahead in silence. The throne room was so quiet, you could hear a pen drop. The tension was so thick, it felt like it was suffocating everyone.

At last, Ravena spoke. "Many years ago, you took something precious from me.", she said, holding out her hand. Purple mist swirled around and formed a staff of blackened tree wood, with a globe of green and purple magic swirling inside at the head of it, the wood rooted over it like crooked bird claws. "Now I shall return the favor. I shall take something precious from you—your only child."

Gasps rose up from the ballroom as Ravena gripped her staff with both hands, raising it towards the ceiling. "Heed my words, Your Majesties! I bring my own gift for your precious princess!" Her eyes and staff glowed as he spoke in a loud voice, declaring her wishes to all gathered around her. "Before the last sun sets on her sixteenth birthday, she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel—and DIE!"

No sooner had those hateful words left her blackened lips, she banged her staff on the floor, emitting waves of her magic throughout the throne room. The infant princess glowed slightly with green enchantment before it faded away just as quickly as it had appeared. "NO!", cried Queen Diana in anguish. She pushed past the good fairies and plucked her daughter from the cradle, holding her to her heart protectively, as if that alone would shield the baby from the curse. Ravena only pleasantly sneered and laughed cruelly at her distress.

"SEIZE HER!", roared the King, pointing a finger, trembling from rage and spite, at his enemy. The knights moved in to carry out his orders, but Ravena spread her arms out, her black robes swaying from her gestures. "Stand back , you FOOLS!" Her warnings were followed by more lightning and more thunder, as she transformed back into swirls of enchanted green mist and steamed out the open throne room doors, her evil, cackling laughter still echoing throughout the palace halls.

Storm and Tammy were frozen to their spots on the floor, their eyes wide with shock and horror. Storm stumbled forward, hands reaching up to run through his flaxen blond locks. "No! No! No! NO! NO!" Holding his head in his hands, he screamed, "NOOOOO!" His intense negative emotions chased away the illusions of the past, and the throne room, the fairies, the royal guests, and Moon family, all evaporated into thin air, until Storm and Tammy were back in Eclipse's new Dragonfly Castle, with the old and new rulers of Mewni.

Storm looked up his father with tears in his eyes. "Tell me...Tell me it isn't true." Mars looked crushed, but he nodded his head solemnly. "Its true.", he said simply, his voice breaking at the end. Rivera looked as if she might cry. "We wanted to tell you so badly..." Storm stared straight ahead, his mind and heart still trying to process the horrible truth that he had just learned.

"Marcia is cursed to die."


	15. Root of All Evil

Tammy was freaking out. Not in the literal-flaming anger way that she was infamous for, but a confused, horrified way. All the guilt for the times she had gone full-demon on Marcia before they became friends, for secretly being happy that she had been taken away, it all came back at full force. "How could she do that?! How could Ravena curse an innocent baby to die?!"

Mars shook his head. "Like the witch said, she wanted revenge on King Solstice for betraying her." "Why?!", screamed Tammy. "What did that guy do to her that was so bad that he would set up his baby daughter to die before she's sixteen?" Mars sat in a nearby chair, motioning with a hand for Tammy and Storm to come closer. "That part, I will simply tell you."

"A very long time ago, long before you two were born, King Lunar of the Moon Kingdom, Marcia's grandfather, was at war with Ravena and her forces of darkness. He had killed two monsters fir stealing food from him, and it enraged the fairy. When the other fairies sided with the King and refused to help her seek justice for her fallen friends, Ravena turned against the Mewmans, declaring that she was no longer their friend and protector, but their enemy."

"Now, King Lunar was proud and stubborn, but he was not feeble-minded. Ravena was the most powerful of all the fairies, powerful than all the others combined. It would be a challenge to defeat her. If he faced her head on, he would be risking his life. As brave as he pretended to be, he was in truth the greatest of cowards. To avoid fighting for his people and his kingdom, he sent out a declaration that anyone who defeated Ravena in his place would marry his daughter, Princess Diana, Marcia's mother, and become heir to his throne."

"In came Solstice, Marcia's father, a close friend of both Diana and Ravena. The three of them had been the best of friends, some of them closer than others. Ravena was secretly smitten with Sol, but he and Diana had fallen in love with each other. When Ravena asked for their help in the war, Diana refused, choosing to stay loyal to her father and her kingdom. Ravena pleaded for Sol to stay by her side, and Sol said he needed time to think about it. He said he was torn between his fellow Mewmans and one of his dearest friends."

"After the declaration was put out, Sol met Ravena in secret, declaring that he had chosen her, that he would stand by her in this time of conflict. Ravena was delighted abd confessed her love to him, to which he simply thanked her and asked to spend the night at her home, since he could not return to his village, for obvious reasons. Ravena happily agreed, and fell asleep beside him."

"Alas, when the fairy awoke the next morning, she found not her love next to her, but an iron chain stained with her blood. Iron burned fairies, something she had told Sol and Diana when they first met. Her back ached, and when she went to touch the hurting spots, she found nothing but stumps of skin. Her wings—the glossy raven wings that she had been born with, that she used to fly over the treetops—had been burned off and stolen from her."

"Next to the bloody chains was a letter in Sol's handwriting. It said that he had planned to kill her while she slept, but their friendship and his sentiment towards her had compelled him to show her mercy. Instead, he had burned off her wings and taken them to the King, to tell him of Ravena's death and claim Diana's hand in marriage as reward. In the letter, he said he would always have a special place in his heart for Ravena, but she had done herself in, and he could not abandon Diana and their people. He wrote that it would be best for everyone if Ravena pretended to be dead, if she stayed hidden in the forest and never showed her face in Mewman territory again, and bid her a farewell."

"Ravena wept that night. And with good reason. Everyone she had ever trusted and cared for had turned their back on her. Sol, Diana, the other fairies...she was alone. In that moment, her heart shattered into pieces so small, they became non-existent, so that she no longer had a heart. The thought of justice for her monsters friends alone no longer satisfied her. She wanted more now. She wanted revenge. Revenge on Solstice and Diana for betraying and deserting her when she needed their help and friendship the most."

"For almost twenty years, she did what Sol had asked. She stayed hidden in the woods she called home and never appeared outside the boundaries of the Forest. She ruled her kingdom of darkness in solitude, getting news of her friends' marriage and coronation through her raven companion. And she waited. Waited for the perfect opportunity to strike. The perfect opportunity to hurt Sol and Diana like they had hurt her."

"At last, that opportunity when she heard of the birth of their first child and heir, Princess Luna Moon. Ravena was delighted. What better way to hurt her former friends, to ruin their lives just like they had hers, to break their hearts just like hers had been, than to kill the child they had waited so long for? It was the perfect revenge. Sol had taken Ravena's wings and her freedom. She would take his and Diana's only child. At last, those two would get a taste of their own medicine."

"After Ravena cursed her, Solstice immediately ordered that every spinning wheel in the kingdom be burned to ashes so they could do no harm to Marcia. But the Magic High Commission stepped in, telling him it would not be enough. Ravena was as crafty as she was powerful. The MHC suggested that they hide the princess somewhere safe, in another dimension where there was no magic, where Ravena's sorcery could not reach her." "Earth.", Storm whispered in realization.

Mars nodded. "Yes. Earth. They found a couple, warm and loving, who dearly wanted a child of their own, but were having trouble conceiving. They knew the princess would be in good hands if she was given to this couple. So in the dark of the night, Heckapoo took the Queen to Earth, when no one was around to see them. Diana left her child on their back doorstep and fled with a heavy heart."

When Mars finished the story, Tammy and Storm were both in tears. The magic lava smudged and burned Tammy's mascara, making it run around her three eyes. "That is so sad!", she blubbered, making an ugly crying face that she was known all too well for by those closest to her. "They had to give up their only child to keep her safe from the curse!"

Storm shook his hanging head, his own blue eyes watery as well. "And I accused King Solstice of not caring about Marcia. I said he abandoned her because he didn't love her. But I was wrong. He did what he did because he loved her. He did what he thought was best for her, to protect her from dying, even if that meant he had to miss seeing her grow up." He gently smacked himself on the forehead. "He was right about me. All my big talk about growing into a better person, and I'm still just a stupid, thoughtless kid."

Eclipse shook his head fiercely. "No. He's still wrong about that. A thoughtless child would not fight so hard to give monsters equal rights. A thoughtless child would not take responsibility for Mewni instead of hiding away from a rampaging Meteorite. A thoughtless would not have set things right by giving me back the wand and the crown, even after what my son did."

"I agree completely.", said Mars with a smile on his face. "You have grown up, Storm. Into a brave, selfless, wonderful young man that I am proud to call my son. You just need to find a way to prove it to King Solstice and the rest of Mewni." Storm deflated. "How am I supposed to do that? He won't even let me get near his kingdom borders! He's got knights surrounding the place!" Mars smirked. "I'm disappointed to hear that." "Huh?" "Since when has stuff like that ever stopped Storm Dragonfly?", the former Dragonfly King asked with a mischievous glint in his icy blue eye.

Storm stood there in complementation. His father was right. Storm never let anything or anyone stand in his way. Not little wand-stealing Kappa men, not evil mastermind Sepatarians, not even brainwashing boarding school headmasters who had suddenly turned into soul-sucking purple Hulk-like creatures. He may have matured in many ways, but he had not changed enough to not have the moxie to stand up for himself and those he loved. And he wasn't going to change that part of himself, not ever.

If he wanted Marcia back, he was going to have to fight for her. He would have to stand up to her overbearing father and prove himself worthy of the King's daughter. He would have to do everything he could to get past the obstacles standing between them, to get to her. In that single moment, Storm made up his mind. He was going to get Marcia back, even if it was the last thing he ever did. He wasn't going to let anything stand in his way. Not his banishment from the Moon Kingdom, not an army of Moon knights, not even King Solstice himself.

Marcia was worth fighting for.


	16. Prepared

Marcia sat on her window ledge, staring aimlessly into the distance, wearing nothing but a thin white shift. Tonight was the night. The night of her sixteenth birthday. In celebration, the King and Queen were hosting a splendid ball to debut their daughter to the public eye. She would officially be introduced to the people of the Moon Kingdom as their Princess and future Queen. All were invited to see the long-lost royal lady.

And yet, as Marcia sat there, watching several carriages roll through the palace gates, each bearing the crest of a different royal or noble house, she felt no joy, no happiness, no excitement of any kind. Tonight was supposed to symbolize the beginning of the rest of her life, but she instead felt like her life was ending.

To Marcia, being officially introduced as the Moon Princess meant she could officially bid farewell to the way things had once been. After tonight, she would be trapped in her new position. There would be no chance she could return to her old life, her life as a regular girl and squire. All her dreams of knighthood and daring adventures would be gone forever, her hoped-for future of armor and heroic battles replaced with one of ballgowns and tea parties.

Suddenly, a carriage bearing the Moon Kingdom drove onto the palace grounds. A footmen opened the door, and Marcia's heavy heart grew lighter and soared. Stepping out of the coach was Rafeal and Angie, her true parents, regardless of their lack of blood relation. They were dressed in their best, and in her arms, Angie carried a little bundle that Marcia just knew was her new baby sister.

Marcia wasted no time. She bolted to the door and opened it, starting to walk out, when she remembered that Lady Febe had given strict orders to stay in her bedroom to wait for her return with the royal beauticians and dressmakers to prepare the Princess for the festivities. Seeing the guard at her door, Marcia caught his attention. "The Princess commands to have Angie and Rafeal Diaz in her private quarters at once."

The knight looked at her oddly. "Is that a direct order, Your Highness?" Usually, Marcia didn't like giving orders as a princess. It felt wrong to boss these people around with a status that she had never wanted. But this time, she would make an exception. "Yes. Yes, it is.", she said with a curt nod.  
\---------------  
The moment Angie and Rafeal entered, the room was filled with cries of happiness. Marcia embraced both her parents tightly, cherishing the chance to feel their arms around her once more. When she closed her eyes, she was a little girl again, back home on Earth, without a care in the world. No etiquette lessons, no royal duties, no high iron gates keeping her locked up. Just love. Pure, untarnished love, no strings attached.

There was a tiny wail, drawing everyone's attentionto the squirming little bundle in Angie's arms. Marcia's eyes lit up. "Can I see her?" Angie and Rafeal shared a half-nervous, half-happy glance. "Well...see, dearest, the doctors made a small mistake." Marcia became worried. "What? What kind of mistake? Is the baby alright?" Angie smiled sweetly as she pulled the blanket off the infant's face, revealing smooth brown skin and big brown eyes on a cute round face. "Marcia...meet Marcello, your new baby brother."

Marcia's own brown eyes doubled in size. "Baby brother? Its a boy?!" Rafeal laughed. "With how much these doctors charge, you think they would be much better at their jobs." Angie smirked at her husband before looking back at Marcia. "Do you wanna hold him?" Her daughter—for that's what she was, regardless of whether she was biologically theirs or not—eagerly bobbed her head up and down.

Angie carefully placed the baby in Marcia's arms. The little boy gazed up at his big sister with glassy doll-like eyes before snuggling his tiny head into her breast. Marcia beamed like the moon as she hugged him tightly. "Hola, little Marcello...", she cooed, sitting on the foot of her canopy bed. "You are just the sweetest little brother a girl could have." She placed a tender kiss on his soft forehead.

Angie and Rafeal sat on either side of Marcia as she rocked baby Marcello lovingly, falling deeper in love with him with each second that passed. "So, I saw that Storm isn't here yet.", Angie mentioned. "I thought he'd be the first to arrive." When she looked back, she saw that Marcia's face had fallen at the mention of her best friend. Her lip quivered, her eyes glazed over as she hugged her baby brother closer to her heart. "Marcy, honey?"

As soon as her mother said that nickname, the nickname that Storm had given her and was so fond of calling her by, Marcia burst into tears, shocking both her parents. Between sobs, she spilled out the whole story, how Meteorite had gone on a rampage through Mewni to take the throne, how she had gone against the King and snuck out to help Storm, how her father had found out and forbid her from ever seeing Storm again.

When she finished telling the tale, the Diazes were left in stunned silence. How could this man have forbidden Marcia from being with Storm, her best friend, her partner in crime, the person who had had such influence on her life? Rafeal and Angie had always been exceptionally fond of Storm, much more than all the other foreign exchange students they had hosted on Earth, and thought of him as the son they had never had (at the time).

They knew that Marcia was found of him, too. From day one, Angie and Rafeal had sensed this chemistry between their daughter and the young Dragonfly, and known they shared a special bond, something that most people searched their whole lives for and never found. To keep them apart for giving back something that was never truly theirs in the first place seemed cruel.

Angie wrapped her arms around Marcia lovingly, rubbing her back in soothing motions as the young girl cried into her shoulder. "There, there...it'll be okay. Your father's probably just mad right now. Give him some time. I'm sure he'll cool down eventually." She wished there was something more she could do, but there wasn't. Marcia was not legally hers anymore. Angie and her husband could not reunite her with Storm.

So instead, they simply kissed Marcia tenderly on the forehead and told her that everything would work out alright in the end. Letting her hug her new baby brother one last time, they exited the room to prepare for the ball that night. Minutes after they left, who should come in but Lady Febe and an army of servants tasked with beautifying the princess for tonight.

Febe pulled a reluctant Marcia onto her feet with a smile. Tonight is a very important night for you, Your Highness.", she reminded her ward. Not only will the people finally be properly introduced to their Princess, but you will be introduced to your future husband. Tick, tock! We have a lot to do before you're ready for tonight." She held out a lock of Marcia's dark brown tresses out by her fingertips. "Starting with your hair."

"And that face.", said a beautician, examining Marcia's naked, makeup-less features. "And those nails.", said another, taking the princess's hands in her own and giving them a quick look over. "Darling, your nails are so...unkempt." Marcia scowled and swiped her hands away sharply. Febe tsked. "We'll have to keep working on those manners, too.", she scolded lightly. "No man wants a woman with a temper."

Marcia glanced from the corner of her eye and noticed one of the dressmakers hanging a silken ballgown on the door. It was trimmed with the finest snowy white lace, falling in a full skirt. Marcia felt a twinge of sadness at the color of the gown. It was the sane beautiful icy blue as Storm's eyes.

It had no sleeves or straps, a sweetheart neckline a royal blue silk rose in the center and a transparent top attached that loosely wrapped around the shoulders and below the neck like river mist, with royal blue bows on each side. All in all, it was a very fancy dress, not one Marcia would have chosen for herself. "What is that?", she asked with a weird look on her face, pointing to the garment hanging on her door.

Febe laughed gently. "Its the gown that you'll be wearing this evening." Marcia stared up at her with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. "I can't wear something like that!", she protested, still pointing to the new dress. "And why not?" "Its...Its not my style!", Marcia tried to explain, looking at the gown like it was made of slime instead of silk.

Febe only giggled. "Nonsense, stop your grumbling. Its a beautiful gown, and you know it." She threw a towel over her arm and walked behind the princess. "Now come along, we've wasted enough time already." Marcia was gently ushered to her bathing quarters, where servants were filling the tub with scented water and fragrant bath oils, to begin her torment—sorry, I mean her makeover.

Oh, what Marcia wouldn't have given to still be in bed.  
\-------------------  
Storm pulled the hood over his head tighter, nimbly scanning his surroundings to make sure that no one noticed him, that he blended into the crowd. Close behind him, Tammy slunk by, also in disguise. He gave her the signal, and they weaved in and out of the people lining up the streets to see the various carriages arrive, carrying important royal guests that had been invited to see the Moon Princess for the very first time.

Storm and Tammy had snuck beyond the borders of the Moon Kingdom and were making their way towards the palace. They knew that Storm could not just barge into the land as he was. He needed to be incognito, at least until he got close enough to the castle. Then he could show himself and stand up to King Solstice, demanding to see Marcia again. He would not take no for an answer.

Soon, they got close enough to the gates which had been open wide to grant entrance to the ongoing coaches. They stood a few feet away, watching the line build up as the guards checked to see that each passenger of the carriage was on the royal guest list. The Dragonflys were not on the list, for obvious reasons, so Storm would have to find another way inside.

Storm and Tammy hid behind a coach that was waiting in line. "So what's the plan?", she asked him. Storm got on the back ledge of the carriage they were hiding behind. "We crouch onto this coach, then when it pulls through, it carries us in, then we jump and make our way to Marcia from there." As they grabbed parts of the carriage to hold onto so that they wouldn't fall, they overheard two voices coming from inside.

"Now this is very important, son.", said an older, stern voice. "Please act like a gentlemen." "And when have I ever not?", replied a snooty male's voice. "Don't worry, Father. When Princess Luna sees me for the first time, she's certain to fall madly in love with me!" Storm's heart jumped at that. "She better.", grumbled the father. "I want you to make a good impression on her. I went through a lot of trouble arranging your betrothal to the Princess."

Storm's heart stopped for a minute, his whole body going numb at what he had just overheard. He looked back at Tammy, who had her hand over her mouth to hide her shock, all three eyes wide. Marcia was betrothed to another? If that was so, the stakes were higher than they had first realized. Storm was more determined than ever to get into the palace and find his Marcia.

"Mistress Tamara?" They gasped and looked at the direction of the raspy voice to see that it belonged to a demonic servant, who was driving the carriage behind them. "Golom?", hissed Tammy. Looking closer, she saw that it was her own family carriage that was right behind the one they clung to. A lightbulb went off in Tammy's head. "Storm! I gotta better plan!"

She looked back up at her servant. "Golom! Let us inside!" At his mistress's command, Golom opened a hidden door below his driver's seat. "Hurry!", Tammy whisper-yelled at her ex-boyfriend, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. The door closed just as the line started moving again.

Tammy and Storm crouched in the hidden compartment before she rapped hard at the top. Seconds later, another hidden door opened, revealing the faces of her parents, Wrathmelior and Dave Lucitor, who smiled seeing their daughter and her ex there. "Honey! Where have you been? You said you had to take care of something!"

"I do.", said Tammy. "I'm trying to help Storm get back to Marcia." "Get back to her?" "King Solstice says Marcia can't see him anymore!", she explained in a low voice. "We're trying to sneak in so they can see each other again. I didn't come with you guys because I wanted to help him get to her. I know it might be asking for much, but could you please close the door and pretend we're not here? If the King knew either of us were here, he'd have out thrown out?"

Putting on her best puppy-dog face, Tammy silently pleaded with her parents, who then shared an uncertain glance. Wrathmelior smiled and nodded at her husband, a silent sign of permission. Giving his daughter a smile and nod of his own, Dave closed the door tight and sat back up on the seats, acting as if nothing had happened.

Storm and Tammy waited patiently in the tight space in the underbelly of the Lucitor royal coach, not even daring to breathe too loudly, lest they be discovered. A few minutes later, there was another rap from above the door, making their breaths hitched. They prepared for the worst to happen, only to have their fears washed away by Dave Lucitor's kind voice saying to them,

"You're in."


	17. The Proceedings

Marcia gasped for air as the servants stuffed her into her new ballgown, which clung to her body tightly. She frowned as they moved onto her makeup. It had been two hours since they had started primping and polishing her for the ball—two hours of pain and anguish. They were almost done, and for that, Marcia was grateful.

She had been bathed and groomed quite extensively, her hair washed with fine oils, her skin scrubbed with perfumed soaps. Her long dark hair had been dried and combed and styled into long, silky curls that framed her face. She had been given a rough manicure and pedicure, her hands and feet still hurting from the treatment and the steel grip the beauticians had had on her limbs, and her high-heeled blue silk slippers.

Now, the servants were covering her face in pale makeup to give her a sweet look. She shut her eyes tight as they smeared and smoothed the thick substance onto her features. This whole process was uncomfortable to her. As they glued false eyelashes to her lids, Lady Febe cried out in delight, "He's here! The Prince of the Lupis Kingdom is here to claim your hand!"

Marcia pushed past the servants and ran to her window to get a look at the man who was to be her fiancee. Febe pointed to one man in the crowd of arriving guests. "That's him! Your future King! Isn't he just dashing?" Marcia followed her finger to the man it motioned to, and her powdered face twisted into a frown.

When she first laid eyes on him, she was immediately displeased with what she saw. He was tall and lean, but he was attired too fancily. His coat and trousers had enough frills and ruffles to make Marie Antoinette look underdressed. His powdered wig was bigger than his head, and he had so much makeup on, he looked more like circus clown than a prince.

He greeted the King and Queen with a bow, then addressed the crowds with a snooty expression. "Now, where is that princess of yours?", he declared rather loudly and rudely. "You'll see her at the ball tonight.", Diana told him. "Right now, she's getting ready." "Well, that I can understand.", said the Prince, adjusted his fluffy cravat neckerchief.

He looked back at some commoners who were arriving at the palace. "And just what are you doing here?!", he spat at them in a rude tone of voice, pointed his jeweled can at them. "You peasants should be back working the fields where you belong!" He stomped over and hit one of them with one end of his cane, knocking the poor boy to the ground. Luckily for the rest of them, the knights stepped in and led the Prince away before he did any more damage.

Marcia was horrified. This was the man that her father wished for her to marry? If she would to become his wife, she would surely be miserable for the rest of her life. He was nothing like her sweet, selfless, brave Storm, who truly cared for her and his people. There was no way she could marry such a cruel, boorish snob like this prince. And yet...she could see no way out of her betrothal.

Febe turned Marcia back to face her and began dabbing blush onto the princess's cheeks. "Now remember,", she lectured, making the pink on Marcia's cheeks bright as cherry blossoms. "When you're presented to your future husband, be polite. Be proper. Be utterly charming. A fine gentleman like that prefers an elegant woman to be his bride. You just have to act like that woman."

Marcia rolled her eyes as Febe stained her lips scarlet red. She continued to stand still as her governess attached pearl earrings and a diamond necklace around her throat. At last, Lady Febe opened a special jewelry box and pulled out a sparkling silver tiara that glittered with diamonds and rare pale blue sapphires. She picked it up by her fingertips, raised it high up so that the light caught the diamonds, making them blaze like sunbeams, and carefully lowered it on top of Marcia's head. And with that, the picture of a perfect princess was complete.

Febe dragged Marcia to the full-length mirror so she could see her reflection. Marcia frowned at the girl staring back at her. She did not recognize herself at all. Her face felt heavy, her corset was suffocating her, and her new ballgown itched and irritated the skin underneath. She felt stiff and uncomfortable and too clean, but she had no other choice. This was how she would be presented tonight.

Lady Febe and the servants, on the other hand, were delighted by her appearance. They could not stop fawning and cooing over her, telling her how beautiful she looked like this, and how the Lupis Prince would surely fall in love with her on the spot once he saw her all dolled up. Marcia rolled her eyes at their compliments. The only person she wanted to have fall in love with her was Storm. Right now, her heart ached for him more than her feet ached from her pinching shoes.

Staring at her lace-trimmed skirts, she said softly, "I request some alone time before my debut at the festivities." Lady Febe and the maids accepted her orders without a word, and curtsied before making a hasty exit. Once she was alone, Marcia sat back on the ledge of her window and watched the people go by, feeling like a songbird trapped in cage, watching people admire but never touch it.  
\----------------  
Storm slipped behind one of the walls, his senses at their most heightened as Tammy slunk in next to him. Ever so slowly, he peeked his head out, enough so he could see, yet not so much so he could be seen. The over-powdered, over-made-up Lupis Prince was speaking to the Moon King and Queen, his words full of fake flattery. Just hearing them was enough to make Storm barf.

Just as he was plotting ways to murder that snooty prince by stuffing his stupid powdered wig into his lip-glossed mouth, he was jolted out of his thoughts by Tammy shaking his shoulder. "Look!" She pointed a clawed finger towards a tower. Following it's direction, Storm's heart skipped a beat.

There she was, sitting in the window, adorned in diamonds and blue silk, looking like an angel with sad eyes as she stared aimlessly out her tower bedroom window. Her hair was in perfect curls, and even from a hundred feet away up in the air, he could catch the sparkle in her brown eyes. It was always there, whether she was happy or sad.

Storm's heart soared up, up to where she sat, to lay in her hands. He preferred her to how she usually was, dressed in loose clothes with no curls or makeup, her natural beauty shining through. But she was still beautiful this way. She was always beautiful. Whether she was dancing at a ball, or helping him fight the forces of evil, her true beauty, inside and out, always found a way to show.

Soon, he saw her heave a little sigh, rise from her window seat, and close the drapes to give her total privacy. Storm's heart lurched when he became no longer able to see her, his heart throbbing to look at her lovely form and face. Tammy saw the longing look on his face, and knew what had to be done. "I'll create a distraction.", she said, catching his attention. "When I give a the code word, you run for it. Okay?"

Storm stared at her with widening eyes. "Are you sure?" "Positive.", said Tammy. Her smile was sweet and supportive, but her eyes were glazed over, doing all they could to hold back tears. She swallowed before finishing. "Just go be with your true love." Storm gave her a smile that said everything that needed to be said. "Thanks, Tammy. For everything."

Without another moment to spare, Tammy leapt out into the courtyard and announced her presence to all that were gathered here. "Hey, partay pee-ple! Who's ready to get their groove up in here?!" The snooty nobles and royals who bore witness to her display gasped in horror at her brash attitude and informal choice of attire for such a formal soiree. Some of the ladies of the court even fainted into the arms of their escorts.

While they were busy overreacting to such a "scandal", Storm took advantage of the commotion to slip by the knights completely undetected and run through the castle doors. Before him were a hundred steps, a hundred steps between him and his princess. But it didn't deter him in the slightest. Storm would cross an ocean to get back to Marcia.  
\------------  
Marcia drew the curtains on her window. Now she was alone. With no one and nothing else but her own thoughts to keep her company. No maids. No governesses. No royal court ladies to wrinkle their noses at her less-than-ladylike manners. No mother or father to lecture her on who she needed to be, or who she could marry instead of Storm...

Storm...

No Storm...no best friend...no secret love of her life...no sweet boy to cheer her up when she was feeling blue, to take her on crazy adventures whether she wanted to or not, to accept her for who she was, not for who other people wanted her to be, to be there for her no matter what. No one to make her half-burnt brownies to make her happy after a bad day. No one to go trick-or-treating with, even though they were considered too old. No one to talk to about her hopes and dreams and fears and everything else.

The weight of the past few days, weeks, month, the past year, pressed down on her mind and her heart, until she felt like she was suffocating. She stumbled towards her fluffy canopy, heaving for breath as her lips quivered. Plopping her rear end down on the foot of her bed, she finally let the tears flow. One by one, they spilled from her eyes and down her cheeks, dripping off her chin.

She didn't care if she ruined her makeup. She didn't care of she got a lecture from Lady Febe or her parents. She didn't care about anything anymore. Everything she cared about, everything that mattered to her, everything that had given her life purpose...all of it was gone. Including her true love. She had nothing left. And there was nothing she could do except cry.

"Luna..."

Marcia gasped, hearing her birth name. She glanced upwards, scanning the room, which had suddenly grown dark without her noticing. "Who said that?" Suddenly, from the corner of her puffy eye, she saw a greenish glow come from the corner of the room. Her head whipped in it's direction, and, even through her blurred vision, she could see a ball of green light, swirling there by her wall, beckoning to her.

"Luna..."


	18. The Night Rises

Marcia blinked several times to make certain that she was not just seeing things. A ball of glowing green light was in her darkened bedroom right now with her, and it seemed to be whispering her birth name, the one her biological parents had given her. "Luna...", it hissed again, calling to her, moving along the stony bricked walls that closed her off from the rest of the palace.

Okay Marcia, don't panic., she thought, trying to calm herself. Just because its unfamiliar, doesn't mean its dangerous. A lot of people think monsters are dangerous. Just find out why its here before you make any assumptions. She slowly rise to her feet, her wide eyes never leaving the light. "What do you want?"

The light did not give her a verbal answer. Instead, it moved to the marble fireplace in the front of her room and started glowing brighter. Marcia blinked a couple of times as her eyes adjusted to the new amount of light. When the light dimmed once again, she looked to see that the fireplace, the mantle and most of the wall around it had completely vanished, leaving a big gaping doorway in it's stead.

The light whispered her birth name again, and Marcia could not resist it's pull. There was something...hypnotizing about this ball of light, something spellbinding, that caught her curiosity. She wanted to know what's it's purpose was, why it was here, and what did it have to do with her. So when the light floated through the doorway, she followed it without question, brushing off Febe's instructions to stay put.

In the dark room, illuminated by the ghoulish green glow of the mysterious light, Marcia saw a series of stairs, winding up higher and higher. She had never been to this part of the castle before, and wondered how long it had been around and why the light had led her there. Moments later, the light hovered up the stairs, whispering her birth name once more.

Without a word or a thought to how this may not be a good idea, Marcia gathered her skirts in her hands, just like her governess had taught her, and slowly ascended the stairs up to wherever it was the light was taking her.  
\-----------------  
I'm almost there! Storm bolted down the empty halls, his heart beating fast, although whether it was from the adrenaline or the thought of being reunited with Marcia, he wasn't sure. All he knew for sure was, he loved Marcia, and he was ecstatic at the thought of being with her again.

At last, he saw her bedroom door at the end of the hall. His heart leapt, as did his legs, as he stuck a perfect landing perfectly before her bedroom. He didn't waste a second, and knocked his fist against the door. "Marcia! Marcia, its me! Storm! I snuck in! I snuck into the castle to see you!" He pressed his body against the door. "I have something to tell you! And I'm not gonna wait for you to open the door to tell you!"

He closed his eyes as he leaned against the doorframe, leaned into it like it was Marcia's tender embrace. "I love you, Marcia. I've loved you for a long time now. I don't know when I started loving you, but I know that I'll never stop, ever. You're the best thing that ever happened to me, and I can't imagine what my life would be like without you. And I don't care about your dad—I'll do whatever it takes to be with you, Marcia. I'll fight for you to the end. You're worth fighting for. You're worth everything."

Storm waited for her reply. He waited for her to open the door. He waited to hear her voice say words that would either fulfill his dreams or crush them beyond repair. He waited for something, anything to happen in response to his declaration of love, feeling more nervous than he had the first time he confessed, a year-and-a-half ago at the Diazes end-of-summer party.

That time, he had been so sure of rejection, he had run off to return to Mewni before she could answer him. He had been so sure she would say that she did not feel the same way, that she loved Jackson Lee Thomas and Storm was just a friend. This time, he would stay to hear her answer. No matter how afraid he was that she would reject him, he would stay. If only there wasn't a door blocking them so he could see her first reaction.

So he waited. And waited. And waited. But nothing happened. Not a sound was heard behind the door. Not even a footstep. Storm gulped. "Marcia?" He knocked again, harder this time. "Are you in there?" Maybe she wasn't in her room anymore. Maybe she had left and gone downstairs in the time it had taken him to sneak up, and he had just missed her. Unless...she was avoiding him. But Storm didn't want that to be true.

He grabbed the doorknob, intending to just jiggle it to get Marcia's attention. Instead, it twisted all the way around. Storm released an "oh!". He had assumed the door had been locked. He pushed the door open just a bit, leaning in to get a better look. He stopped cold when he saw that the room was partially filled with a sickly green light that give him chills.

Throwing caution to the wind, he swung the door all the way open and strode into the room. "Marcia?!" His head turned, and a horrified gasp escaped his mouth as he saw the open doorway where the fireplace used to be. And it was all bathed in the same horrid green glow, a glow that he recognized at once, that he had seen when he and Tammy had traveled back in time to see Marcia's christening. "Marcia!"

Moments later, King Solstice entered, Storm's voice having caught his ear as he was making his way over to check on his daughter. Sol did not look happy to see the former prince, to say the least. "You!", he spat, pointing a shaking finger at the intruder. "How dare you show your face here after what—"

Storm cut him off. "Stop! Look!" Storm pointed towards one end of the Princess's bedroom. Solstice followed his line of vision, and his blood went cold when he saw the open way that had suddenly appeared in his daughter's quarters and the all-too-familiar color of the light that covered it. "Ravena...", he said horsely. His next word held striking fear and panic. "Luna!"  
\----------------  
Marcia stepped up the hard stone stairs, her shoes making soft click-clack noises as she struggled to keep up with the ball of light, which was going much too fast for her taste. "Hey! Slow down! Not so fast! Do you know how hard it is to run in these shoes?" The ball of light did not heed her pleas, as it only hovered further and further away from her, turning around the corner of the stairwell.

Marcia finally turned the corner and immediately heard the sounds of wood creaking and clacking against more wood. She looked to see a room at the very end of the stairs, the door open halfway, the sounds coming from inside. Slowly and cautiously, she peered inside to see a little old woman sitting in the corner, busy weaving wool at a spinning wheel. "Hello?"

The old lady jolted, a wrinkled hand flying to her heart, calming when she saw it was only Marcia standing there. "Goodness, child! You startled me! You shouldn't sneak up on people like that!" Marcia stepped inside and bobbed a little curtsey out of respect. "I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was up here. Um, have you seen a ball of green light around here by any chance?"

The woman knitted her fuzzy white eyebrows together. "Ball of light? Oh, heavens no. Its just been me in here...with my old spinning wheel." She gently moved the wheel back and forth with one hand, making sure Marcia's attention was on her. "Say...I know you! You're the Princess." Marcia smiled out of politeness. "That's me..."

The woman smiled back at her. "Its your birthday today, isn't it?" Marcia nodded. "Yes...I'm sixteen." "Sixteen!", cried the woman. "And such a pretty thing you are, too! Why, I'll bet you'll have all the great princes of the land flocking to the castle to win your hand in marriage!" She smirked. "Say...why don't I let you have a turn at my spinning wheel? A young lady should know these sorts of things. Think of it as...a birthday present."

Marcia looked behind her, uncertain. "I dunno...I should probably get back to my room before anyone notices I'm gone." "Oh, come on now, dearie.", said the woman, rising out of her stool. "What's five more minutes?" She swept her arm out towards the spinning wheel. Marcia looked doubtful, but the woman was being so sweet, surely five minutes wouldn't make a difference. "Alright...I guess I could give it a go."

Marcia walked over and sat on the tiny stool next to the spinning wheel. "So! How does it work?" She was so focused on the wooden contraption, she did not catch the wicked glint in the old woman's eye. "Oh, its quite simple.", she said. "Just move the wheel with your right hand, like so." She demonstrated, rolling the wheel in small, gentle strokes. Marcia nodded and mimicked her. "Slowly, now, slowly! Good, good, that's it!"

The old woman leaned in. "Now, with your other hand, take the wool from the wheel's edge and wrap it around the spindle...right there." Marcia looked to see a spindle of gleaming steel. "Okay." Slowly, she reached over with her free hand and took the yard of wool, reaching over to wrap it around the spindle. As her hand swerved around the point, her fingers stuck out, getting closer to the end of the needle...

Suddenly, Marcia felt a sharp pain in her middle finger. She gasped and drew her hand back, putting pressure on the wounded spot. "Gracious! What happened?", cried the woman. Despite sounding worried, she had a smug grin on her face. Marcia hissed as she examined her injuriy. "Its fine...I just pricked my finger, is all." She opened her hand to show her companion. Sure enough, blood was leaking from her middle finger.

"I think that means I've had enough spinning for today.", she said, pressing against her cut. "I better get back home before anybody starts worrying about me. But thank you for the lesson anyway." She rose up to leave, but found her balance was gone as she stumbled forth. She placed one hand against the stone wall to support herself, while the other flew upwards to clutch her forehead. "What...What's happening?", she panted, finding herself short of breath. "The whole room is spinning!"

She heard footsteps as the old woman approached her side. "Is it? It seems perfectly still to me. Perhaps you should lie down for a moment or two..." Marcia looked behind her, and her eyes widened in shock. The old woman's skin tone had gone from normal Caucasian color to a sickly pale purple hue, and her eyes were glowing electric violet. This was no regular old lady. And from the way she was smiling, Marcia knew that she had something to do with her current state.

"What...What have you done to me?", she gasped weakly. The old woman cackled. "Just a little birthday present that I've been waiting to give you for almost sixteen years now! Didn't you ever wonder the reason why your parents gave you up as a baby? Well, now you have your answer!"

Marcia could hardly believe it. All those accusations and things that had been said about Solstice and Diana not caring for her, for not really loving her, for deserting her for no good reason...none of it was true. Everything they had done—leaving her with the Diazes on Earth, keeping her inside the castle, never leaving her alone—they had only been trying to protect her from this witch.

The spinning came faster and faster, and Marcia found herself falling in and out of consciousness. "Help...me..." The witch did nothing, only laughing cruelly as the princess stumbled around the room, trying to keep herself on her feet, clutching her head tightly. Her head felt lighter with each passing second, and dark spots blurred her vision.

"Marcia!" At the sound of that voice, Marcia looked up. Even through the black spots, she could see him standing there. Storm. Her best friend. Her soulmate. The person she loved above all else in this world. Her prayers had been answered. He had come for her. And yet...he was two minutes too late.

She had to do it now. She had to tell him how much she loved him before she faded away completely. Reaching her arms out to him, she stumbled towards him, trying to choke out the words. "Storm...I...I..." He took a few steps towards her, holding his arms out to take her in. "Marcia, I'm here! I'm here!" She struggled to finish her sentence. "Storm...I...love..." No sooner had those words left her lips, she fell forward.

"Marcia!", Storm screamed, diving in to catch her before she hit the floor. He pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms around her as he stared at her peaceful face, her eyelids lowered shut. "Marcia, its me! Can you hear me?" When she didn't respond, he started shaking her, desperate to revive her. "Marcia, wake up! Please, wake up!"

But she didn't. She just lay there in his arms, completely motionless, her eyes closed. His own blue eyes watered at the realization that he had been too late. She was gone. And the worst part was...she had left him before he could tell her how much he loved her, adored her, wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But now, that would never happen.

Holding her closer, his tears of sadness turned to tears of hate as he glared up at the old woman, who had now fully transformed back into Ravena. The evil sorceress stood over the broken-hearted boy and the fallen princess victoriously, like a queen over defeated rulers who had just surrendered to her. She seemed to have no sympathy for Storm and the love that she had just taken from him. In fact, she was beaming with pride as she looked down on them.

King Solstice and Queen Diana ran in moments later, gasping in horror when they saw their daughter's limp body in Storm's arms, mixed with fear when they realized their old friend and foe was standing in the same room. Ravena locked eyes with them and laughed in their faces. "At last, the score between us is even! Hope you saved a good spot for your precious daughter in the catacombs!"

She spun around, taking the form of a black person-sized tornado, and whisked out the tower window, her cackling trailing behind her. Once the dust cleared, out the window, Storm, Sol, and Diana could see the sun set over the horizon. Ravena's curse had been fulfilled.


	19. Lost

Storm stared blankly at the sight before him. The servants were lying Marcia's motionless body onto her canopy bed. They moved her so that she lay on her back, her head slightly elevated with a plush pillow, her cocoa brown curls draped over her shoulders. They tucked in in under the thick sheets, folding her hands just below her breasts. Even in death, she was the most beautiful girl Storm had ever seen or knew.

The lightning-cheeked boy looked around the room at the people with him. Rafeal and Angie were on the verge of crying, and only by holding their new baby boy Marcello tightly were they able to hold it back. Tammy looked distraught. Even though she had been jealous of Marcia for having Storm's love, she had still considered the brunette girl the best friend she had ever had.

Ponyhead was doing nothing to mask his grief, the rainbow tears steaming from his eyes like two miniature waterfalls. Kelly hung his head in solemn respect for the girl who had helped him move on from his ex. Jackson, Jonah, Alison, Felicia and Sensei Brenda were there, too. Once the Diaz parents had called to tell them what happened, they took a pair of dimensional scissors that Jonah had bought during accompanying Storm on a visit to Quest Buy and hoped right over to the Moon Palace.

Jonah looked like someone had kicked his puppy, and he wasn't sure whether to cry or maul the perpetrator for it. Jackson stood there, staring at his ex-girlfriend with silent tears rolling down his freckled cheeks. Although their romance had not ended the way either of them had hoped, Marcia had been his first love, and held a dear place in his heart.

Felicia and Alison were hugging each other with death grips as they bawled at the top of their lungs. Sensei Brenda was on her knees, looking and pointing towards the ceiling and loudly cursing the Awesome Gods of Karate for allowing her best student/dojo sis/cape sister to fall victim to such a horrible fate.

But clearly, the two people in the room with the most broken hearts were King Solstice and Queen Diana. They sat at Marcia's bedside, staring at her still, unmoving form lying in her bed, her eyes closed and her face at peace. Diana had her hands covering her mouth, muffling her noises as she wept controllably, while Solstice rubbed her back in smooth, comforting circles. Everything they had done to protect their daughter had failed.

The room was silent, save for the sobbing from those who had loved Marcia the most. At last, someone spoke up. "So, this whole time, Marcia was cursed?!", exclaimed Jonah. "The abandoning her as a baby at the doorstep...that was so   
Ravena couldn't find her to make her prick her finger?! And keeping her inside and never leaving her alone...that was so Ravena couldn't sneak up on her with a spindle?" The King and Queen modded their heads. "It was all apart of our plan to keep her safe from Ravena's wrath.", said Solstice. "But I guess it wasn't enough."

"I don't get it." All heads turned to Kelly's direction, while his eyes went upwards to see another pair of eyes peeking out from the top of his huge fluffy green hair. He immediately scowled. "TADITA! How many times do I have to tell you?! You. Need. To. Move. OUT!" Tadita dismissed her ex-boyfriend's anger with a wave of her hand as she stood on her feet on the top of his head. "We'll talk about that later. Now's not the time."

She looked at the King and Queen. "Seriously though, I don't get it. Why did you never tell her about the curse in the first place?" Diana sniffled as she wiped her nose on her gloved arm. "We didn't want her to bear the weight of that as she grew up. That kind of dark cloud over her head for sixteen years..." She trailed off, hanging her head.

Tadita blinked twice. "But...if you just told about the curse, you wouldn't have had to give her up for adoption. You could've just said to, her, like, 'See that spinning wheel? Don't ever touch it or you'll die! Got it?'. Than, like, she would've have known to stay away from spinning wheels. I mean, wouldn't that have been easier? And, like, way more effective?"

A few beats passed as Tadita's suggestion sunk in with the people in the room. Solstice and Diana looked at each other with wide eyes before facepalming at the same time. "Why didn't we think of that in the first place?!", The King screamed in frustration. "Taddy,", said Kelly. "You actually came up with a better solution to their problem than the King and Queen did." He was full aware of the irony. Tadita was not the sharpest sword in the armory. The fact that she came up with a better idea than two monarchs combined amazed him. Although he wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

"I did?" Tadita broke out into a grin upon hearing that. "I did, didn't I?" You know what that means!" She started doing a little victory dance on top of her ex's head, singing, "I'm smarter than the Ki-ing! I'm smarter than the Ki-ing!" She was brought back to reality by the dozens of angry eyes on her. Seconds later, she realized that this was not the time nor the place for celebration. "Sorry."

Storm walked over and sat at Marcia's bedside, gazing with glassy eyes at her lying in bed. "If you guys don't mind...", he said, his eyes never leaving her form. "I'd like some time alone with her. I wanna say goodbye." Everyone respected his wishes and left the room to give him some privacy. No sooner had the door clicked shut did Storm start to cry, finally letting loose the woe of losing his best friend not once, but twice now.

"I-I'm sorry.", he choke out between sobs. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. I'm sorry I didn't come sooner. I'm sorry...I'm sorry I never got to tell you the truth." He leaned over her, taking in her beauty. Her smooth skin that glowed even in death, her shiny chocolate brown tresses that hung off her shoulders, her sweet face that he could stare at forever and never grow tired.

What wouldn't he give if she could open her eyes again, those gorgeous orbs of amber and hazel mixed together into a perfect combination? To have her come back to life and back to him? To smile at him and hold him close and fill his world with light and joy again, even if it were for only one more day? The answer was nothing. There was nothing he would not give up to have Marcia back.

Storm leaned closer to her and whispered horsely in her ear, even though he knew she couldn't hear him. "I love you, Marcia. I've loved you for a long time. More than I've ever loved anyone or anything. And I promise, right here, right now...I'll never love another girl for as long as I live."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a red rose. He had been saving it for when he confessed to her. So many times he had run the scenario in his head, him getting on one knee before her as he declared his eternal love for her. So many fantasies, so many hopes, so many dreams for them and their future...all shattered in less than hour. Cruel, cruel fate.

He took her hands and placed the rose underneath her palms so that she pressed it to her chest, the flower bud laying just over her heart. He placed his hands over hers. They were still warm to the touch. He reached over and tucked a stray curl behind her ear as he watched her lie still. His hand lingered by her smooth cheek, and he leaned closer so that their faces were almost touching, unable to tear his gaze from her lovely face...

Suddenly, a crack of lightning echoed through the room, and he jolted away from his beloved in fright and surprise. "Oh, I don't think so!" He spun around to see Ravena had somehow entered the room without a sound, unnoticed, undetected. She crossed her arms and tapped her foot like an impatient mother waiting for her child to apologize for disobeying her.

At the sight of her, Storm's face twisted into an ugly sneer. "You! You did this!" He tore himself from Marcia's bedside and lunged for Ravena. Seconds before he could get his hands on her, the sorceress simply flicked her hand, and he went flying backwards, skidding on the floor, banging the back of his head on the wall. Rubbing his sore spots on his noggin, he looked back up at Ravena, who looked unimpressed. "Is that the best you got?"

To her surprise, his face of anger faded, replaced by one of despair as he pulled himself to his knees before the wicked woman, folding his hands in front of him. "Undo the curse! Please!" She looked repulsed at such a request. "What?! Why in the name of all evil would I be dumb enough to do such a thing?!"

"I'll make it worth your while, I promise!", Storm pleaded, crawling back to Marcia's bedside. "I used to be a prince! I can get you whatever you want! Money, jewels, land, a kingdom of your own— name it, and its yours!" He looked back at his beloved, lying still, a sight that broke his heart. "Just give me back my Marcy." His hand reached up to tenderly brush her cheek.

Ravena was untouched by his display of affection towards her latest victim. "What I want is justice!", she sneered. "And now I have it!" "But you don't need to take revenge anymore!", Storm told her. "Eclipse is giving monsters equal rights. You don't need to protect them anymore!" He saw a glint in her eye, not a glint of anger, but a glint of sadness. "You think that's why I cursed your princess?"

Ravena stood before him, her lip trembling ever so slightly, her dark eyes becoming glassy like the eyes of a doll. "I killed soldiers to avenge the deaths of and protect my monsters. I cursed that girl to punish her for the sins of her mother and father. They took something I treasured. I simply returned the favor. Now we're even." Storm growled at her. She smirked. "Of course, there's just one more loose end I need to tie up."

She snapped her fingers, and instantly, a dozen little goblin men, green and red-eyed and slobbering, leapt from the shadows and piled atop of the teenage boy. Storm struggled to fight back as they wrapped him in ropes and gagged him tightly. He squirmed as they finished tying him up, glaring at Ravena, who was grinning from ear to ear maliciously.

Storm felt a sharp pain at the back of his head, and slowly, his whole world faded to black.


	20. A Ray of Hope

Storm slowly and groggily opened his eyes halfway, his vision blurred. When it cleared and he got a better look at his surroundings, those same eyes snapped open all the way. He was in a dungeon, dark and damp, with no windows and only a single door sitting atop a stairwell of cold stone, like the walls that closed him in. When he looked down at his hands, he found them shackled and chained to the wall he had been propped up against.

"Well, well, well...look who finally woke up." Storm's head shot upwards to see that Ravena had, once again, appeared in the room with him seemingly out of nowhere. She smirked at him as she struck a pose. "I was wondering when you'd come to." Storm growled at her like a rabid dog. "Where am I?" "Mount Ravenclaw.", she answered him simply, her calculating studying the way the glints of green on the ball on the handle of her scepter. "My home. Hope you find it cozy. Thanks to the anti-magic spell I cast on your shackles, you're going to be here for a long time."

Storm sat up, the chains weighing heavy on his wrists and his soul. "You know, when my father first told me your story, I admit, I felt sorry for you. I thought you were just another victim of monster prejudice that we were fighting to end. I thought that maybe after the equality movement had won, we could find you, and we could all live in harmony. But I was wrong. Its not your past that makes you evil, its you! Only an evil witch with a black heart like yours could kill an teenage girl in cold blood!"

For most of Storm's monologue, Ravena listened without sympathy, without remorse, without emotion. But when she heard that last sentence, her eyes went wide, and she turned her head back to stare at him. "Wait...you think I killed her?" Storm snarled at her response. "I know you did. I went to the past. I saw you place a death curse on her as a baby."

She was silent for a moment. Then, she smirked and asked, "And then what happened?" He blinked a few times. "Huh?" "What happened after I left?", she asked again, her voice taunting him, indicating that she knew something that he didn't. Storm thought for a moment. "After that...I freaked out, and the vision faded." Her smile became a little bit wider. "That's what I thought."

Her eyes turned back to her ball. "You see, kid, what you didn't know before, is that your extreme emotions messed with the magic that was keeping the vision in tact. When you freaked out after seeing me leave the christening, you cut the little movie short, and you didn't see what happened next." Her ball glowed green, and she raised her scepter up off the ground. "Here...let me show you." And with that, she banged it to the floor, sending a shockwave throughout the dungeon cell. Storm closed his eyes instinctively from the impact.

When he opened them again, he was back in the Moon Palace, back in the throne room, back at Marcia's christening. Queen Diana was cradling her newborn daughter, who babbled and gurgled happily, innocent to the dreaded spell just put upon her. King Solstice looked distraught and lost. How could he not be? His first and only infant child had been cursed to die before she was grown.

Just then, like the answer to everyone's silent prayer, a sweet voice rang out from the crowds. "Wait..." Every head in the throne room turned their direction as Celestia stepped out from the cluster of people that had huddled together in fear of Ravena's wrath. "I haven't given the princess a gift yet.", she reminded them.

Hope sparked in the eyes of the King and Queen. "Can you undo the curse?", asked Solstice, his voice begging, pleading. Celestia shook her head sadly. "I'm afraid not. Ravena's magic far exceeds my own. But...I can lessen the spell's effect on your child." Carefully, she took baby Marcia from her mother's arms and rocked her slowly as she spoke. "Princess Luna..."

"If through this wicked woman's trick  
A spindle does your finger prick,  
If you cannot escape the call,  
It will not be in death you'll fall;  
But in slumber, enchanted and deep.  
You'll lie in bed, and you will sleep,  
Until a brave one awakens you  
With the kiss of love that's true."

And with those words spoken, Celestia kissed the baby princess on the forehead, the magic from her touch enveloping the infant child in a golden, sparkling light as she floated through the air back into her mother's awaiting arms. Diana hugged her daughter close, cradling her against her heart as Solstice wrapped his arms around the both of them, silent and emotionless.

Storm watched the scene, stunned beyond words, as his surroundings slowly faded away until he was back in Ravena's dungeon. Slowly, very slowly, it all sank in. "Marcia's alive...", he whispered, more to himself than to Ravena. "She's not dead, she's just sleeping." As that finished processing in his mind, a question popped into his head. "But wait...what dies any of that have to do with me?"

Ravena quirked one of her blackened yet perfectly shaped eyebrows at the boy she held in chains. "You're joking, right?", she asked in a snarly tone of voice. "You seriously don't know why I'm keeping you here in the first place?" He furrowed his brows answering her question. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but closed it again and smirked. "Well, if you haven't figured it out by now, you'll never know unless I tell you. And I don't want to give you reason to leave anytime soon."

And with that, she spun on her heel and strutted away from Storm, up the cold, black cobblestone steps, and slammed the heavy wooden door, locking it shut with the key in her cloak. She smiled in satisfaction as she slipped the small iron tool back into the folds of her long black-and-purple sleeves. "And now, for the first time in over twenty years...I will have a good night's sleep."

She spun on her heel again, the hanging ends of her ensemble flowing gracefully at the sudden motion like dark flames in a soft breeze, and marched proudly up the hall towards her tower bedroom to ready herself for her own slumber. If she had not been so secure and certain in her apparent victory, however, she would have noticed the three tiny balls of brightly-colored light hiding behind a corner of the hall.


	21. A Little Help

Storm sat in the dungeons of the castle, lost in thought, anger and hopelessness. A part of him was overjoyed that Marcia was still alive, just lost in enchanted slumber. But another part of him was still distraught. Celestia had said that only a kiss of true love could awaken her. But how could that true love wake her up if she hadn't met them yet? If Marcia had fallen in love, surely, he would have been the first to know. She would have told him right away...unless they weren't as close as he thought.

Of course, Storm thought, there may be other explanations. Perhaps she had fallen in love with someone in the short time Solstice had been keeping them apart for the thing with Eclipse and Meteorite. Maybe she was still carrying a torch for Jackson Lee Thomas, even though he had broken up with her, and assumed Storm would just automatically know because he knew how long and deeply she had been crushing on him.

The more he thought about someone else being Marcia's true love, the wetter his blue eyes became. Here, he had been prepared to declare his love for her, and now, he finds out that another may hold her heart. Why did Cupid hate him? Why was he cursed to forever love such a beautiful, lively, amazing girl that did not return his feelings? It was a fate that he would not wish on his worst enemy.

But underneath his breaking heart, one lingering thought nagged at him from the back of his mind—why had Ravena kidnapped him? What did he have to do with any of this? It was a thought that grew louder and louder with every moment he spent alone in the solitary confinement of his dungeon cell, the only other voices than his own coming from inside his head.

All of the sudden, there was a great flash of light, mixed with spectacular shades of gold, petal pink and ocean blue. It lit up the dreary, hopeless pits that served as prison. Slowly, each color of light faded slightly, moment by moment, taking the shape of a person. When it finally dimmed completely, in the dungeons of Ravena's castle stood Flora, Marina and Celestia—Marcia's fairy godmothers.

"Oh, thanks heavens, we were wrong!", cried Flora as she and her sisters rushed to Storm's side. "When King Solstice told us that you had vanished, we feared the worst!" "Luckily, Ravena just decided to imprison you.", Marina said, checking Storm's wrists and treated the scrapes from the heavy shackles that bound him to the walls.

Flora knelt towards him. "We haven't a moment to lose!" She waved her hands, and almost instantly, Storm's chains faded into glitter before vanishing entirely, setting him free. He rubbed his sore wrists and glanced up at the fairies as he rose to his feet. "Thank you.", he said. "How did you know I was here?"

"We knew that Ravena had something to do with your disappearance!", exclaimed Celestia. "How? I don't get it!", said Storm. "Why does Ravena want me out of the picture so badly?" "Because, my dear boy,", said Celestia slowly, so that every word she spoke would have a chance to sink in. "You're the only one who can break her curse!"

Storm was taken aback by this. "What?! Me?! Break the curse?! How?!" "Wait, you don't get it?", asked Celestia. She looked around at her sisters, who were just as surprised and perplexed as she was. "Well, boys can be quite clueless at that age.", remarked Flora with a roll of the eyes. Storm huffed, pouting, still in the dark. "What?! What is it?!" Marina shrugged. "I'll just say it—you are Princess Luna's true love!"

You could have knocked the poor boy over with a feather after that announcement. "I am?!" "Yes...", said Celestia in a rather deadpan tone, irritated that he had to be told and had not picked up on it himself sooner. "The Princess is madly in love with you. She has been for over a year now. You are her true love. Its your kiss and your kiss alone that can break the spell."

Storm's head was spinning. "Wh-When did this happen?!" "Well, I think her feelings for you may have developed sometime after your confession to her at that end-of-summer party.", explained Flora, like a professor lecturing his class. "With the sudden absence of you in her life, your presence became more precious to her. So much so that she traveled to Mewni to see you again. Then you seemingly died at the hands of Toffee, and the thought of never seeing you again made her treasure those memories even more."

"But that was, like, almost two years ago!", screamed Storm. It freaked him out even further finding out that Marcia had been in love with him for that long and he had been oblivious the entire time. "Why didn't she tell me?!" "She was confused.", said Celestia. "She was still with Jackson at the time, and it took her a while to sort out her feelings for both of you, even after coming to Mewni. It took Tadita telling her to make her realize she loved you and only you. But by then, you seemed to have moved on with Tamara, and poor Luna valued your happiness over her own, so she said nothing so not to complicate matters."

Storm ran his fingers through his buttery gold locks, his mind still trying to register all the new information. Soon enough, it all sank in fully for him. And once it did, another thought popped into his head. "Wait a minute...how do you know all that stuff about Jackson and the summer party and Toffee and Tammy and Marcia's complicated feelings?"

At this, the fairies looked at each other with panicked expressions. Slowly, they turned away from Storm and averted their eyes towards the ceilings, whistling innocently. Storm saw through their act in seconds. "Wha—Have you been spying on her?!" The fairies turned back one by one, smiling nervously and playing with their fingers in one way or another.

"Well...we may have used special seeing-eye spells to check in on her a few times.", admitted Celestia, bumping the tips of her forefingers rapidly. "But we were just making sure she stayed under Ravena's radar!" "Of course, we had no idea of how much drama she'd go through at fourteen. And in less than a year!", commented Marina. "Seriously, it was like watching a soap opera."

Storm leaned up against the wall, his body numb to the icy cold of the stone bricks. "Marcia is in love with me." "Yes, I believe we already established that." "Marcia is in love with me.", he repeated. Slowly, a wide grin spread across his face. He pumped both fists into the air and screamed out, "Marcia Diaz is in love with me!!!" He was riding high on ecstasy and excitement, when three hands clamped over his mouth.

It was the fairies, looked panicked again, this time for different reasons. "Keep it down!", Flora hissed. "Do you want to wake up Ravena and bring her back down here?!" Storm was quick to shake his head. "Sorry.", he said, the word muffled. They waited a few beats, but they did not hear anything new. "Phew. Good. She must have not heard."  
\----------------  
Ravena rubbed her eyes as she sat up in bed. She paused, then shrugged her shoulders. "'Bout time he figured it out." Yawning, she slipped her eye mask back over her face and settled back onto her mattress to return to slumber.  
\-----------------  
Storm smiled as he started bouncing on his feet, the joy from learning of Marcia's returned love and his destiny to break her curse really jazzing him up. "Well, what are we waiting for?! We have to get back to the castle!" He sprinted forward like a bullet, only to be caught by an arm belonging to Celestia. "Not so fast there, lover boy. You can't just leave this place unarmed. You need to be prepared."

Storm looked confused. "Prepared?" "First things first, you'll need some good, sturdy armor.", said Flora. With a flick of her magic wand, Storm's ratty old casual attire became a steel tunic, with long red sleeves, long back pants, and thick brown leather boots. It even came with a flowing red cape in the back.

Flora summoned a silver hand mirror into her hand and held it up for him to see his reflection. His untamed golden mane had been slicked back divinely, a style that his father had tried to get him to adopt for years with no success. He frowned at what he saw. "Uh...is the hair really necessary?" "That is a special spell.", Flora said proudly. "No matter how dire the situation is, the style will remain in tact!" Storm raised one eyebrow at her. "Again, is that really necessary?" Flora frowned. "Well, excuse me for wanting you to save the day and still look nice at the same time!"

Marina rolled her eyes. "Well, now that your pretty face has been cleaned up, let's see about getting you some stuff that will actually be useful in battle." Flora huffed at that. Ignoring her older sister's pout, Marina flicked her wand at Storm while reciting what he needed. "An enchanted shield..." A great shield appeared on his arm, forged from steel that gleamed like silver in the moonlight, with a red lightning bolt on the front, very much like the ones on his cheeks. "...and a sword of truth." In his opposing hand, he suddenly found himself gripping the shining golden handle of a long, majestic sword. "These should help you fend off whatever Ravena throws your way."

"Yes.", Celestia said, stepping forward to stare Storm with concern. "The road to your true love may still hold many more dangers. Ravena is a clever and very powerful sorceress. Everything that she has done in the past two decades has been fueled by her desire to hurt the King and Queen for leaving her, and her lust for vengeance has only grown stronger in the sixteen years that have passed since she first placed the curse on the Princess. She will stop at nothing to make sure you never make it to your beloved."

Storm held up his sword and glanced at his reflection in the blade, thinking of Marcia, his soulmate, his best friend, his true love, who had always been there for him, who had always taught him new things, who he had always felt like he belonged with. They were always there to save the other, should they be in any danger. And right now, it was his turn. He smiled with every ounce of courage in his heart. "Let her do her worst. I'm never letting anyone, King, Prince, or stupid sorceress keep me and Marcia apart ever again."


	22. True Love’s Kiss

Flora poked her head into the hallway and looked both ways. "Coast is clear.", she whispered, gesturing with her hand for those behind to follow her as she went up the hall, lifting herself on her tiptoes with magic. "Come now."

Marina and Celestia fluttered after her, followed by Storm, clutching his new sword and shield. He would use them to defeat Ravena and save Marcia.

They neared the entrance, closer and closer. Finally, they turned a corner, only to run into a black raven-like Mewni bird, with big beady eyes and a crooked orange beak. It took one look at the former prince, free from his shackles, accompanied by the three fairies, and started cawing loud enough for the whole fortress to hear.

"Oh, dear!", cried Celestia. "Our cover's been blown! Forget stealthy! We need to get out of here now!"

Storm started to panic. "Can't you just, like, zap us out of here or something?"

"It doesn't work like that!", Marina snapped at him. She then smirked. "But we can do this." She pointed a hand at the entrance nearby and, with a blast of blue magic dust, busted down the doors.

"Go! Go! Go!" Flora chanted these words to Storm and the other two fairies as they bolted out the doors to freedom.

Seconds after they reached the drawbridge, they were soon met by Prince Ponyhead. "D-Fly!"

"Pony! What are you doing here?"

"Heard you got a damsel in distress that needs ya!", said the loudmouth prince. "And I figure, every knight in shinin' armor needs a noble steed!"

Flora looked him up and down, which was a very short way to look someone up and down. "No offense, but I think he's going to have a peck of trouble riding on your...neck."

Ponyhead rolled his eyes. "Yeah, like I'd let anybody climb on his neck! Do you know how long it takes to moisturize it? I wasn't talkin' 'bout me!"

He whistled through his teeth, and up galloped a stallion with a brown body and an aqua blue head that seemed to have been sewn on, with a stump where a unicorn horn seemed to have once been.

"D-Fly, you remember my brother Chezno. Chezno, you remember Storm."

The former Dragonfly Prince greeted the former Ponyhead Prince. "Hey, Chezno. Haven't seen you since your operation. How's things?"

"Great!", replied Chezno, seemingly oblivious to the stares from the fairies. "Lots of trots, rides from Mewmans, its all good."

"Good, good.", Storm replied rather awkwardly.

Chezno continued. "So, my big bro said you're in need of a noble steed! Well, you got one right here! Hop on!"

Storm blinked as he looked at Chezno doubtingly.

Celestia sighed. "Well, he's no white stallion, but...he'll have to do."

Storm gave a curt nod and climbed onto Chezno's back. "To the Moon Palace! Not a moment to waste!"  
\------------  
Ravena stormed onto her balcony, just awoken from her slumber and very cranky. "What is going on out here? Honestly, what is the matter with—" She stopped near the end of her rant when she looked past her balcony railing and saw Storm Dragonfly, cloaked in armor, galloping away on an unfamiliar horse. "No!"

She saw him leave her dark territory and head back towards the Moon Kingdom, no doubt to awaken his sleeping beauty. Ravena burned with the heated rage of a thousand suns. "No! You're not going to get away with it that easily!" She grabbed her dark scepter and started waving it over her head in a circular motion, chanting, 

"A forest of thorns shall be his tomb;  
Born from the skies on a fog of doom!  
Now go with the curse, and serve me well;  
Around the Moon Palace, cast my dark spell!"

As she recited her spell, a cloud of darkness formed from the waving of her staff. She then pointed to the Moon Palace, just over the horizon, and the cloud flew overhead through the sky, swirling around the peaks of the palace towers. Thunder boomed from it's form, accompanied by strikes of purple lightning.

As Storm and Chezno neared the Palace, suddenly, out of nowhere, craters cracked from the ground, and from it's holes sprung branches and trees of deadliest black, covered from tip to root in huge thorns as large and sharp as daggers. Chezno's eyes widened, and he skidded to a stop, kicking back to avoid the deadly points. Right before their very eyes, the trees crowded together, creating a forest of certain doom, with it's thorns blocking every which way.

Storm saw the fear on Chezno's face, and decided he must face this alone. Leaping off the back of his friend, armed with his magic weapons, gifts from the fairies, he swung his sword to and fro, hacking off branches of brambles, paving his own way into the palace. At last, he reached the end of the forest, at the grand doors, seeing them wide open.

To his surprise, he found that there were many people asleep in the courtyard of the palace. Some were slumped over, sleeping while standing up. Some were sitting and had their entire upper half hunched over or lying across the table before them. Others had fallen to the floor completely, all a-snooze. Any way they stood, sat or lay, they were all fast asleep, just like Marcia.

"Whoa...", he said, eyes bugging out of his skull. He walked around the courtyard, taking in his new surroundings of snoozing peers. "What happened here?"

The fairies fluttered to their feet next to him. "We weren't so sure at first of how long it would take to free you.", Marina explained. "It could have taken years. So we decided to put everyone else to sleep until the curse was broken. That way, when Luna awoke from her slumber, they would not have missed a moment with their princess."

From the corner of his eye, Storm noticed the Prince from earlier, the one who had arrived to take Marcia as his bride, was slumped over in slumber just like the rest of them. Now, even though Storm was older, wiser, and more mature, he still had that goofy, rebellious streak in him. And when he saw that snooty Prince fast asleep, snoring like a locomotive, a devilish smirk crossed his face.

Taking a paintbrush from the royal portrait painter, he dipped the tip in black paint and walked over to the Prince. He then painted a scraggly mustache and beard on the Prince's over-powdered face. Then, he took a mop and broke off the wet straggles. He then took off the powdered wig off the Prince's head and replaced it with the sopping mess. For the final touch, he undid the golden belt and pulled it to his ankles, so that his boxers with heart print was visible to all.

He admired his new masterpiece, then noticed the fairies' unamused looks. He simply shrugged. "I gotta be me."

Flora sighed. "Whatever. I believe you have a princess waiting for you."

Storm smiled and bolted into the castle, up the marble steps, from floor to floor, closer and closer to where his heart lay.

At last, he found the room he was looking for. He stood in the doorway, looking in. There she was, lying in peaceful slumber, the dark brown curls floating around her head on her pillow, his rose clasped in her calloused hands, waiting for him and his kiss of life. The sun shone through the window on her sleeping form, small dust particles dancing gracefully above her, like teeny-tiny ballerinas.

Storm walked towards her in long, slow strides, drinking in her beauty. She was exquisite, even when she did nothing. She really did look like a beautiful princess. His princess. She was his princess long before she was an official one. Every moment felt like surreal to him, like he was living in a dream that he never wanted to awake from. But he was not the one dreaming. She was. And it was up to him to end that dream and bring her back to the real world.

Storm stood by her bedside, taking a few final moments to gaze at Marcia longingly. He raised a hand to her face, the back of his fingers gently brushing her cheek. It was the moment of truth. Slowly, he bent down, his blue eyes fluttering shut as he drew nearer, until, at long long last, he captured her lips in his own in a tender kiss, gentle yet full of passion.

He reveled in the moment, feeling the softness of her mouth upon his, his heart never before knowing a greater happiness. After over two years of heartbreak, unrequited love, and staying silent for the sake of the other's happiness, he was finally, finally, kissing his darling girl. It was even better than he had dreamt it would be. He never wanted to pull back.

But all good things must come to an end. Eventually, Storm raised his head, pulling his lips off her face, and opened his eyes, staring her intensely. Doubts started to cloud his mind as the seconds ticked by, as he waited for her to stir. What if the fairies had been wrong? What if he wasn't the one who could break the curse? What if she had another love? What if—

All his worries washed away when he saw her big brown eyes flutter open. She saw him there, looking handsome with his golden hair slicked back softly, his eyes sparkling with love and relief as he looked down at her, his smile lighting up her spirits. A smile slowly formed on her painted red lips. "What took you so long?"

Laughing at her joke, more from relief than humor, he took her hands in his own and pulled her to an upright sitting position, where he then proceeded to hug her tightly, one hand cradling the back of her head, the other stroking her silky curled tresses. "I love you...I love you so much."

She leaned her head on his shoulder, silently weeping tears of joy. "I love you, too.", she whimpered. "And you have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that." She hugged him closer to her. "I was hoping you'd come back to me."

He smiled and buried his face in her hair, breathing in the scent of the fancy perfume the maids had doused her with. "I'm here.", he whispered in her ear. "I'm here, and I promise, I'll never leave your side again." And he placed a firm kiss in her hair to seal his vow.

Their perfect moment was horribly cut short by the boom of thunder, right in the room. All went dark. Storm held onto Marcia tighter, as he pulled away a bit to look at the center of the room. Their hearts both plummeted when they saw the swirl of sickly green in the middle, growing bigger and bigger by the moment. Swiftly, it took shape, and in a great blast, there stood Ravena, her deadly glared fixated upon the new couple.

"Oh...I beg to differ, darling."


	23. Not A Damsel In Distress

Storm scowled, eyes narrowed at Ravena, who was sneering and growling at him and his beloved Marcia, who he had just awoken with true love's kiss. "Starry Blast!"

He shot a blast of magic from his hands, but she easily deflected it, laughing maliciously at his attempt. "Do you really think your flimsy prince magic can measure up to my dark sorcery?"

Storm pulled Marcia to her feet and held her protectively in his arms. "Its over, Ravena.", he snapped at the enchantress. "The curse is broken. You have no more power over Marcia. This is the end."

A devious smirk played across Ravena's twisted features. "Oh, on the contrary...this is only the beginning."

Before anyone could blink twice, Ravena thrust out her arm, and dark vines appeared around Marcia, holding her in a bind. Storm reached out to free her, only to have his hands engulfed in a dark force field, blocking out his magic. A mysterious invisible force pulled Storm out of Marcia's arms and into one of her own, her other arm clutching her magic staff in her hand.

He squirmed and struggled against her grip, but her strength was that of ten men. "Let me go! Let me go!"

"Not a chance.", the evil woman scoffed. "If I can't physically kill the daughter of Solstice and Diana, than I'll just settle for killing her...on the inside."

Before Marcia could react, Ravena banged her staff, and a cloud of black smog engulfed her and Storm. Marcia ran to where they had once stood, but when the smoke cleared, they were gone.

"Oh dear!" Marcia spun around to see three strange woman, fluttering midair by their flapping fairy wings, wearing worried expressions. "That was certainly not part of the plan."

Marcia frowned, pointing a manicured finger at the three women. "Who are you people?"

The eldest and most wise-looking fluttered forward. "We're your fairy godmothers, Luna dear.", she said kindly.

Marcia had three fairy godmothers?! First Ravena, and now this?! Everything was so confusing. Her painted mouth twisted into a stern pout. "I wanna know what's going on, and I wanna know now. Start talking. Spare no details."

The fairies exchanged guilty looks, then sighed in defeat. "Very well."  
\---------------  
"So, this woman tried to kill me, or at the very least, make me sleep forever, because she wanted revenge against my parents?" The fairies all nodded in confirmation. "I know its a lot to take in.", said the oldest, now known as Flora. "But its all over now."

Marcia stood up from sitting on her bed, where she had been lying in enchanted slumber just minutes before. "Its not all over! Storm is in danger!" "Don't you worry your pretty little head!", said Celestia. "We'll go over there, and get him free again!" Marcia stood up straight and tall. "I'm coming with you."

Flora gasped. "Oh, heavens no! Ravena's realm is no place for a delicate little flower such as yourself."

At that, something inside Marcia seemed to snap. With those last three words the pain and stress she'd gone through since coming to Mewni—suffering through her hidden feelings for Storm; finding out that the people who raised her, the people she thought were her real parents, had in fact adopted her; being dragged to the Moon Kingdom without a say in the matter; being guarded and coddled like she was a fragile china doll; all the pressure to be someone she wasn't; being separated from her best friend and kept in the palace like a prisoner with no hope of escape; being promised in marriage to the most insufferable snoot of a prince that she had ever seen; being cursed into an endless sleep...it all came rushing back in one big, ugly heap.

And now, she had finally been reunited with her soulmate, knowing he, too, loved her with all his heart as she did him with all hers, and he had been taken from her from her again. And these fairies wanted her to just sit around like a patsy while he was in grave danger.

Heck no.

To the fairies' surprise, the princess's lovely face turned bright red at that remark. "I am NOT a delicate little flower!", she snapped. "And maybe if you had actually been watching me closely, like you said you were, you would know that!"

The fairies reared back at her rage. In the centuries they had been alive, never had they seen a princess act so loud and brash.

"I mean, come on!", Marcia yelled at them. "You say you want to keep me safe, but where the heck were you three when I was trying to keep Meteorite away from Dragonfly Castle?! If you were really looking out for me like you said you were, why didn't you try to help me? Maybe if you had joined the army I put together, Meteorite could have been defeated a lot sooner and done a lot less damage, and my father wouldn't have blamed Storm and banned him from seeing me! Then if he was there as a free guest at my birthday, he could have stopped Ravena from carrying out her curse! We could have avoided this whole mess if you had just done something to help instead of just sitting by and letting me go through all this alone!"

The fairies looked sheepish, glancing at the lace trim on their dress skirts. "We...We were just trying to lay low and try not to draw more attention to you then there already was. But I guess when you put it like that... it wasn't the best plan."

Marcia reached up to her head and yanked the diamond tiara out of her hair. "It doesn't matter! I've had enough of all this!", she shouted, throwing it to the ground. "I am done trying to be what everybody wants me to be!" She rubbed the thick makeup off her face. "I'm not going to keep trying to be someone I'm not!"

"Sweetheart, calm down!", pleaded Flora as she saw Marcia take off her high-heeled shoes and throw them out the window.

"What do you think you're doing, Luna?!", exclaimed Celestia.

It was then that the Princess shot her a dirty look. "Don't call me Luna!", she said in a serious tone. "My name is Marcia Diaz. And I'm doing what I should have done months ago. I'm being myself, and I'm gonna save my boyfriend!"

She stomped into the hallway, ignoring the disapproving comments from her fairy godmothers, and her nimble eyes caught sight of the suit of armor posed by the wall. Her lips formed a mischievous smirk, a scheming glint in her eye. "Time to let the real Marcia shine through."  
\-----------------  
Solstice rubbed his tired eyes, his mind swimming out of it's groggy state. He wasn't quite sure what exactly had happened. One minute, he and his wife had been in their bedroom, weeping for their daughter, and the next, everything had gone dark. They had woken up, unsure of how long they had been asleep, or how even how they had fallen asleep in the first place.

All of the sudden, they heard a cry from outside their windows. "Your Majestiee! King Solstice! Queen Diana! Come to the courtyard! It's the Princess!"

At once, the two royals dashed as fast as their feet could carry them to the courtyard. When they got there, many of the invited guests, most of them from Earth, were gathered around a person, hugging them tightly and smiling.

"We're so glad you're okay!"

"We thought we lost you!"

"Don't scare us like that again!"

When Solstice and Diana got closer to see what all the fuss was about, they froze in shock.

The person in the center of the crowd was their daughter, wide awake and well. However, she no longer wore her princess ballgown and fancy accessories. Instead, she was clad in her Prince Turdo uniform, combined with pieces of shining armor on her arms, legs and torso, her long brown hair pulled back into a tight bun to keep her hair out of her face.

Before the King and Queen could reach her and ask how she was awake, the Prince of the Laurus Kingdom appeared next to Marcia, smiling phonily at her through the strings of the mop, the painted mustache and beard on his face curling and smudging from the water that dripped from his head. "My Princess! It gives me such joy to see that you are well!", he crooned, putting an arm around her, not even bothering to notice how she looked at him as if he were a slimy toad with four eyes. "I was so devestated when I thought you had met such a sad state! But now that you are alive and well, we can be wed just as we planned—"

He didn't get any further before Marcia punched the snooty prince right in his gut, sending him falling to his knees in pain. "Sorry, chump,", she said with a smirk, taking a step away from him. "But the truth is, I wouldn't marry you if you were the last boy in the universe!"

"Woo! Go Marcia!", shouted Tammy.

"You tell 'im, Earth Turd!", cheered Pony Head.

Solstice and Diana ran up to her, starling her horse for a moment. "Luna! You're awake!"

"We can celebrate later!", she swiftly told them, her tone and quickness to shut down the joy for now making it clear that there was no time for such things at the moment. "Storm is in danger! Ravena kidnapped him after he kissed me awake!"

Solstice blinked several times. "Storm Dragonfly broke the curse?!"

Marcia nodded. "And now Ravena's taken him away as collateral for her revenge plot being ruined!"

Solstice cleared his throat. "I will send my whole army to her domain to rescue him!" Despite their rough past, that boy had saved his daughter's life. He couldn't let him suffer at Ravena's hands.

"No!", cried Marcia, whipping out a sword, the same sword that the fairies had given Storm to fight off Ravena's magic on the way to the palace. The rays of the sun bounced off the surface of her armor which gleamed in the light. "I'm going to rescue him. Alone."

Pony Head gaped at her. "What?! Are you crazy?! Storm barely escaped her keep the first time! And he had magic and your fairies! No way can you face that witch alone and win!"

"I've faced worse.", said Marcia. She whistled shrilly, and a portal opened immediately. Out flew Nachos, the dragon-cycle, purring and roaring. Marcia climbed onto her back and got in position. Her biological parents ran to her side.

"Stop! You cannot fight Ravena!", snapped Solstice.

Diana nodded. "Your father's right! Its too dangerous!"

Suddenly, their daughter sat straighter and looked them dead in the eye, her face full of determination, not faltering under their stare. "Once upon a time, I might have believed you. But ever since Storm came into my life, I have realized that I am capable of so much more than I could have ever imagined."

Solstice shook his head. "No! I'm putting my foot down! I forbid you to face that demon woman, Luna!"

Marcia's eyes narrowed, and her father saw something in them, like a flash of lightning, or the blast of a great explosion. "My name is Marcia. I've trained in karate since I was six. I've traveled though countless dimensions, battled monsters, demons, even the beast-form of Meteorite with my bare hands. I've led a revolution at St. Oleg's Reform School that toppled the militaristic regime and freed the oppressed students, inspiring princes everywhere. I spent sixteen years facing all sort of dangers in Heckapoo's dimension to earn my dimensional scissors."

She faced ahead, eyes fixed in the path before her. "I am Marcia Ulberta Diaz, and I'm not gonna let anyone tell me what to do or who to be. I'm done trying to please everyone else."

Solstice glanced around at the people who had gathered for the gala. They were whispering amongst themselves, staring wide-eyed at the metal-clad princess on horseback, decorated for war with an evil sorceress. This was not how they had planned to debut their daughter into royal society.

He turned back to her, glaring sternly. "This kind of display is unacceptable!", he scolded her. "A princess does not ride into battle!"

Marcia stared him down, her gaze as strong as her heart. "This princess does." And with a twist of the handles, she set off on, zooming past the palace gates, turning a deaf ear to the people's protests and exclamations of shock and disapproval behind her.

I'm coming for you, Storm., she thought. Just hold on...

He had saved her. Now she had to save him.


	24. The Final Battle

Storm was thrust into a dark corner, his back bruising almost instantly when hit with the hard, black trunk of a barren tree. He groaned in pain as he pulled himself upright to look right at the dark enchantress before him with an icy, hate-filled glare. The wicked woman showed no shame in what she had just done, kidnapping someone with no reason other than vengeance.

"You'll do nicely.", she sneered at Storm. "I suppose if I cannot assure that the princess lies in death, I can settle for assuring that she suffers the same fate as I did. At least now, someone will know the pain I went through for twenty years." Storm rise his feet, his grumbling griwing louder the hotter his anger became. "Why are you doing this?"

Ravena scoffed. "I think you know full and well why I an doing thos!" "But why are you doing it to Marcia?", he roared at her. "She's done nothing to you! She had nothing to do with Sol and Diana's betrayal! She wasn't even born yet! How could you do such horrible things to an innocent person?! How could you punish them for something that they had no part of?! How could you be so heartless?!"

At that last word, something in Ravena seemed to snap. She whipped her head towards him, looking him straight in the eye, and his heart sank. Her eyes, which usually held nothing but spite and malice, now held something else. Something...human. "Heartless?! Ha!", she growled at him. The corner of her eyes watered as she spoke in a voice that was venomous yet somehow vulnerable at the same time. "My heart has been shattered into a thousand pieces, pieces that have withered to dust from years of isolation and loneliness. If I am truly heartless, your precious princess is blameless only in that she arrived too late to break anymore of my heart."

Storm faced her with a face of stone. It was all becoming clear. Ravena had committed unspeakable evils. But she had committed them because she was deeply broken inside. She believed that exacting revenge on the royal family, hurting Solstice and Diana in some way, would grant her back the inner peace that she had lost so long ago when they had deserted her in her hour of need.

Slowly, he spoke to her in a completely neutral tone. "I know...it hurt you. When Sol and Diana left you. It was the time you needed their friendship the most...and they revoked it. I can only imagine the pain you went through. You think...that if you somehow hurt them, it will satisfy you. I'm telling you now...it won't. Getting revenge will not make you feel fulfilled. In fact...if anything, it'll just make you feel more empty than before."

Ravena's cold face wavered for just a moment, and for a few precious seconds, Storm truly believed that he might have gotten through ti her. But that belief died when her face hardened once more. "Too little, too late, Dragonfly.", she spat. "I've spent over twenty years, waiting for my moment to strike back. And one little namby-pamby speech from an ignorant child like you isn't going to change my mind."

"But maybe I still can." Ravena's head shot up in the direction of the voice. A few meters away, a shadow stood out among the mist of the forest. Ravena could make out the outline of the suit of armor they were wearing, and the sword that was grasped in their right hand, and gripped her staff tighter, mentally preparing herself for battle. "Who are you?!"

"That,", said the stranger. "Is a question that I have been struggling with for a year now. Fir fifteen years, I thought I was one thing, but then I was told I was another. And it made me question who I was deep inside. Especially when I became surrounded by people who kept pressuring me to be what they wanted. But I've realized, the only person who decides who I am, what I am, is me. And that I don't have to be just one thing."

The strangers stepped out of tne fog and into the moonlight, revealing themselves to be a teenage girl in a gleaming, silvery suit of armor, her brown haor in a tight bun, looking fierce yet elegant all at once. Her brown eyes flashed with determination as she looked right at her enemy and declared, "I am Marcia Diaz, Earth girl, Princess of the Moon Kingdom, a warrior, and a future Queen."

Storm grinned from ear to ear. Ravena, on the other hand, looked disgusted. "Oh, so its a fight you want, huh? Than its a fight you will receive." Her eyes glowed deadly green, as did the ball at the handle of her scepter. "Let's dance, princess." Marcia raised her sword over her head, her eyes narrowed in steely focus. "Yes...let's."

Ravena thrust blast after blast of green magic at her foe, who jumped to avoid each attack, leaping from tree branches and through the air like a nimble monkey. She darted around the trees, making sure not to get hut by her zaps of green electricity. Finally, she reached the spot where her opponent stood, landing on her feet like a cat with nine lives.

Ravena conquered multiple clones of herself, who all charged at the princess like a mighty stampede. Marcia swung her sword about in graceful, flawlessly-executed movements, making each of them go poof one by one. In little more than a single minute, only one, the original, remained. Ravena narrowed her eyes. This was no damsel in distress. Sje would need to pull out the big guns.

"You have skills, Your Highness.", she said, a note in her voice that sounded almost impressed. "I'll admit that. But if you think I'm going to let you win that easily, you are WRONG!" She raised her arms over her head, her eyes and her orb glowing brighter than ever in the pitch black night that cloaked them. "If you wish to face me, O Princess, than face me you shall—along with all the powers of HELL!"

A great explosion of green, yellow and purple smoke erupted from where she stood, swallowing the enchantress whole. The smoke grew and grew, reaching all the way up to the clouds, making Marcia stagger backwards a few steps. When the smog finally started to clear, the first thing that because visible was a humongous reptilian dragon's head from a thousand feet above her head, with eyes of sickly neon yellow, teeth as big and sharp as dagger knives, and green smoke steaming from it's nostrils.

In her new form, Ravena stood above her foe at hundreds of feet, with thick, rough scales of deadly black and wicked purple. Her slender neck was a hundred feet long, a train of spikes as big as swords sticking out all along the back, her hands and feet morphed into claws that could slash through ten trees as once. And her lethal gaze was fixated on Marcia Diaz.

The head dove down to snatch Marcia's in it's unforgiving jaws of death, but she dodged them just in time. The dragon snapped at her, like a vicious piranha snapping at it's victims in the waters of the Amazon. As Marcia ran in the other direction to get out of it's line of fire, the dragon literally breathed a blast of green fire into the forest below, setting aflame the entire forest area surrounding Marcia.

Seeing no other way to avoid being burned alive, Marcia climbed up a rocky ledge, up onto a cliff that overlooked the entire woods. The dragon followed her onto the cliff, knocking over any trees in it's path. It breathed more blasts of fire at Marcia and continued to snap at her. The princess stepped backwards each time to avoid getting scorched or bitten, until she found herself cornered at the tip of the cliff.

"GIVE IT UP YOUR HIGHNESS!", bellowed the dragon with Ravena's voice. "YOU CANNOT DEFEAT THE MISTRESS OF ALL EVIL!" Marcia's brown eyes darted to and fro as she pondered how to win this battle. Finally, she stood tall, and walked towards the sorceress-turned-dragon calmly, with a sad face, as if accepting her defeat. Storm was distraught to see his love surrender. Then he saw the dragon grin maliciously, then prepare to strike the final blow. "Marcia, NO!"

But before Ravena could finally claim victory once and for all, Marcia swung her sword and struck it right at Ravena's scaly dragon leg, slicing through her abrasive lizard-like skin. Blood of scarlet and sickly green gushed out of the opening like a rover as the dragon howled in pain. Sprinting away from the danger zone, Marcia left off the cliff and into Storm's arms. "Take cover!"

Stumbling forward, Ravena fell onto the rocky cliff, the stone crumbling to rubble underneath her intensified weight. As she fell a hundred feet onto the barren, rocky soil, another cloud of magical smog engulfed her. Storm and Marcia held onto one another tightly, as if they were the only things keeping each other from slipping away, as the roar of the crumbling cliff and Ravena's demise faded away until there was only silence.

After a few moments, they looked back to see what the damage was. Among the shattered remains of the cliff, there lay Ravena, helpless and weak, her slashed leg still bleeding out, rendering her unable to get up and fight. Her face looked broken, hopeless, almost pathetic, as she stared at her injury. She had lost the battle, and from the expression she wore, she knew it.

Footsteps approached her, and she looked up just in time to see Marcia standing over her, her eyes steady, unwavering, holding emotion that Ravena could not recognize. The fallen villainess felt her heart sink, certain that this was the end of everything. "So...I should have been expecting this. I know what you're about to do, Princess. It appears that you are your father's daughter after all. So go ahead. Finish what he started."

She kept onto her foe's line of vision and braced herself for the worst to happen. She waited for the princess to whip out her sword behind her back and end it all right then and there. She waited for her to take the only thing that Ravena had left, the only thing that had not yet been taken from her—her own life. She waited....but it never happened.

Instead, Marcia took from behind her back a large burlap sack that she had carried there on her horse. "I didn't come here to kill you.", she said calmly. She looked Ravena right in the eyes, her own glistening with something the enchantress had never before seen in a look someone had given her—forgiveness.

"Ravena...I've walked a mile in your shoes. I know what its like to be told who you are by those around you, to be forced to be something you're not because that's what people say you are, to feel like you have no choice but to be what they want you to be. But you don't have to be what they tell you. The only person who can tell you who you are, who controls your life...is you. You make your own choices. You determine what your life will be. You decide wha you are."

She slowly opened the sack and reached inside. Storm and Ravena were on pins and needles, wondering what could be inside, when Marcia pulled out a huge pair of glossy, glistening wings, made of shining black feathers, that looked like they came from the most beautiful of ravens. Ravena's eyes watered at the sight, and a soft gasp escaped her lips. She recognized those straight away. "My wings."

Marcia held them out towards the enchantress, as a peace offering, to end everything that had been building up for more than sixteen years. "You don't have to be evil.", she told her former foe. "You don't have to be what people say you are. Only you have the power to be what you want to be. You can protect the monsters. You can fight for your kingdom. You can do good. And I will support you all the way."

Ravena looked up at the princess, the daughter of her sworn enemies, the very girl she had spent sixteen years trying to depose of, and had yet received kindness from, in spite of everything she had done to destroy her and what she loved. "No one has shown me such compassion since your parents abandoned me for each other.", she said in a shaking voice. "For over twenty years, I was so full of anger and hatred towards them that all I could think about was making them suffer for what they had done. I wanted them to feel as much pain as I when they deserted me. I wanted them to feel the crippling sense of loneliness and loss that they had left me with for over twenty years."

"I thought taking away what they loved most would make me happy again. When I put you to sleep, I thought I'd finally feel relief from all the anger from years past. But I didn't. When I locked up your prince, I went to bed, thinking that I just needed time for the hate to fade away." Her glistening eyes widened. "I see now that I was wrong. The hate and anger was gone, but it was not replaced by relief nor happiness. It only made me more empty inside."

Ravena looked back at the wings. "I don't want to be empty. Not anymore. I don't want to be angry anymore. I want to be free." Marcia smiled sweetly and held the wings out a bit further towards Ravena. The dark enchantress took them, and a great white light surrounded her and lifted her off the ground. When the light faded, there she stood, five feet in midair, her wings rejoined to her back, flapping magnificently behind her.

The woman looked down upon the warrior princess before her. She smiled up at her, and for the first time in over twenty years, it was not a cruel smile. It was a smile of gratitude, of forgiveness, of joy. Her heart unhardened, the cold stone that had surrounded it chipping away to give way to warm, pulsing flesh. The schackles that had been chained to her soul were broken at long last. She felt as of the weight of the years gone by had been lifted off her body, leaving her light and airy.

After two whole decades of living in bitterness, in heartache, in endless desire for vengeance...Ravena was finally really and truly happy.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to see the next chapter early, find me on Tumblr under BrosdwayCutie and use the link to subscribe to my Patreon under the same name!


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